Coin Karaoke Rooms Barely Reopen, But Quarantine Measures Remain 'Questionable'

High-Risk Businesses Resume Operations After 57 Days

Owners Call 30-Minute Disinfection and Reuse Guidelines "Unrealistic"... New Customers Arrive in Less Than 5 Minutes

Long Waiting Lines, Singing Without Masks
Some Places Do Not Provide Separate Microphone Covers

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Around 5 p.m. on the 13th, a coin karaoke room near Sinnonhyeon Station in Gangnam-gu, Seoul was visited. Although it was still early, before office workers officially finished work, a long queue had already formed at the entrance. The coin karaoke room, which had resumed operations after a long time, was crowded with citizens. Those who came alone or with acquaintances waited closely together for their turn, and once inside, they immediately took off their masks and immersed themselves in singing.

As the government eased social distancing from level 2 to level 1, high-risk facilities such as coin karaoke rooms have been allowed to operate since the 12th. Accordingly, coin karaoke rooms resumed business 57 days after the government implemented social distancing level 2 and issued a gathering ban order for high-risk industries in Seoul and Gyeonggi-do on August 16.

The government also designated quarantine guidelines for high-risk facilities to prevent the spread of COVID-19. In the case of karaoke rooms, after users leave, the room is sprayed with water using a sprayer, the door is closed, and after 30 minutes, disinfection is carried out before reuse. However, unlike general karaoke rooms, coin karaoke rooms are used for only about 10 to 30 minutes, making the process disproportionately burdensome. One coin karaoke room owner said, "Stopping usage every 30 minutes is basically telling us not to operate," and added, "More realistic quarantine guidelines are needed."

Due to this situation, cases of improper compliance with quarantine guidelines were also observed. On the same day, at a coin karaoke room in Mapo-gu, Seoul, after customers left, an employee sprayed disinfectant, but new customers entered less than five minutes later.

Some karaoke rooms did not even follow basic quarantine rules. Among four randomly visited coin karaoke rooms in Seoul that day, only two provided microphone covers separately to customers. Only one had hand sanitizer available in each room. Also, although those who do not sing must wear masks when entering with two or more people, no place was managing this rule.

Experts point out that due to the nature of karaoke rooms being vulnerable to COVID-19 infection, quarantine guidelines must be followed more strictly. Professor Kim Woo-joo, an infectious disease specialist at Korea University Guro Hospital, emphasized, "When singing, droplets inevitably stick to the microphone surface, and the narrow, poorly ventilated enclosed environment increases the risk of infection."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.