Spitting on Books and Turning Pages in the Library, Secretly Eating... "Gaps in Quarantine Measures Everywhere" (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] "Recently, some gaps such as not wearing masks have been observed even in high-risk facilities that have already experienced cluster infections."

On the 1st, Kwon Jun-wook, the 2nd Deputy Head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, made this remark regarding the domestic situation of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) outbreak.

The health authorities expressed concern that although transmission risk factors and types of high-risk facilities were identified through the first and second waves of COVID-19 in Korea, some places still do not comply with quarantine rules.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, recent major violations of quarantine rules include not wearing masks, inadequate temperature checks, and failure to maintain social distancing. In particular, various cases were reported in educational facilities. For example, in one library, users turned pages with saliva on their fingers or did not wear masks properly.

In study rooms, users took advantage of lax management to consume food, and in study cafes, multiple users sat in seats without partitions without observing social distancing.

Deputy Head Kwon emphasized, "Given the known transmission risk factors such as the 3Cs (closed spaces, crowded places, close-contact settings), not wearing masks, delayed diagnostic testing, and complacency, as well as facilities like nursing homes where outbreaks frequently occurred, we cannot afford to be caught off guard again. Now is the time to pause briefly to prevent further transmission."

The health authorities also urged people to suspect COVID-19 if they lose their sense of smell or taste. Deputy Head Kwon said, "Please suspect COVID-19 first rather than a cold or flu," and added, "Please consider that there will be no more gatherings this year."

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