Gwangju City Raises COVID-19 Response to Level 1.5 Starting from the 19th

On the afternoon of the 17th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held an online briefing on COVID-19 at the city hall briefing room and announced the escalation of the response level. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City will raise the COVID-19 response level to 1.5 starting from the 19th due to the continuous occurrence of confirmed cases at Chonnam National University Hospital and Sangmu Room Soju Bar.

On the 17th, Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop stated in an online COVID-19 briefing, “Although the average daily confirmed cases over the past week is 7, which does not meet the criteria for raising to level 1.5, the COVID-19 Public-Private Joint Countermeasures Committee held at noon today decided to raise the response level to 1.5 and strengthen quarantine rules throughout the community.”

Mayor Lee said, “There were 18 locally transmitted confirmed cases yesterday. It is the first time in 69 days since September 8 that daily confirmed cases exceeded 10, and except for August 26 (39 local cases), it is the highest daily occurrence.” He explained the reason for raising the level, saying, “Based on the past 10 months of quarantine experience, if we miss the timing to raise the level now, an uncontrollable situation may arise. Many facilities may be closed again, leading to the worst situation where citizens’ daily lives and the local economy come to a halt.”

Accordingly, from the 19th when the level is raised to 1.5, karaoke rooms, which were only prohibited from food consumption, will limit the number of visitors to one person per 4㎡ of facility area.

Wedding halls, funeral halls, bathhouses, and game rooms/multi-rooms will also limit the number of visitors to one person per 4㎡ of facility area.

Academies (including tutoring centers), vocational training institutions, and beauty salons must limit the number of visitors to one person per 4㎡ of facility area or seat customers with one seat spacing.

Cinemas, performance halls, PC rooms, reading rooms, and study cafes must space seats one seat apart, and amusement parks will limit visitors to half of the capacity.

Additionally, gatherings and demonstrations, large-scale concerts (popular music), festivals, and academic events are prohibited from gathering more than 100 people.

Exhibitions, fairs, and international conferences will limit visitors to one person per 4㎡ of facility area, but the ban on gatherings of more than 100 people does not apply.

Religious facilities such as churches and cathedrals will limit seating to 50% and prohibit meetings and meals.

Public facilities will also limit usage to 50% (screen horse racing facilities limited to 20%), and sports games will allow spectators at 30% capacity.

Call centers must ensure ventilation, disinfection, and social distancing among workers.

Mayor Lee urged, “Please refrain from gatherings and appointments involving conversation and meals as much as possible, and strongly recommend avoiding the use of multi-use facilities where many people gather. Since mask-wearing is mandatory, strict fines will be imposed for non-compliance. Please always wear a mask wherever you are and strictly follow quarantine rules such as social distancing and hand washing.”

He added, “If it is judged that community spread cannot be controlled even with the 1.5-level response measures, we will have no choice but to immediately raise to level 2, which imposes many restrictions on daily life and economic activities. I ask all citizens to thoroughly comply with quarantine rules and actively cooperate with quarantine authorities to prevent the realization of level 2.”

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