Gwangju City to Maintain Social Distancing Level 2 from the 15th... Strengthened Quarantine Rules

Operation Suspended from 10 PM to 5 AM Next Day Instead of Previous Midnight Start

On the afternoon of the 13th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held an online briefing on COVID-19 response at the city hall briefing room and announced measures to strengthen quarantine rules. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City will maintain social distancing at level 2 from the 15th to the 24th of this month, while strengthening quarantine rules.

On the 13th at 4:30 p.m., Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop said in an online briefing regarding COVID-19 response, “Gwangju has been relatively stable with an average of 6.2 cases per day this month, but since more than 70% of confirmed cases nationwide are concentrated in the Seoul metropolitan area and there is continuous movement between the regions, we cannot be complacent. From 0:00 on the 15th until the 24th, social distancing level 2 will be maintained, but quarantine rules for major facilities will be further strengthened.”

Accordingly, gatherings of 100 or more people will continue to be prohibited. Mayor Lee strongly requested that private gatherings of 10 or more people also be refrained from.

For religious facilities where confirmed cases have been occurring consecutively, the number of seats allowed for regular worship will be reduced from the current 50% to 30%, and meals and meetings will continue to be completely banned.

Mayor Lee said, “In churches, cases of infection are increasing as choir meetings are held, meals are shared, and clergy conduct sermons and worship without wearing masks. Religious facilities are asked to ban small gatherings such as Christmas preparation meetings outside of regular worship ahead of Christmas and year-end events, and to hold Christmas commemorative events in the form of worship.”

Entertainment facilities of five types (nightclubs, colatecs, danran pubs, emotional pubs, hunting pochas) that were allowed to operate until midnight, as well as singing practice rooms and indoor standing concert halls, will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day. Direct sales promotion centers (such as door-to-door sales) will continue to be closed after 9 p.m. as before.

Restaurants and cafes will only be allowed takeout and delivery from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day. To prevent a balloon effect, all convenience stores in Gwangju city will also prohibit indoor and outdoor eating and drinking from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day.

Bathhouses, arcades, and multi-rooms will also be prohibited from operating from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day. Additionally, steam rooms and saunas inside bathhouses will be completely closed.

For indoor sports facilities, vigorous group exercises (GX types) such as aerobics, spinning, and Zumba dance, as well as apartment gym facilities, will be completely banned from operating, and other facilities will be prohibited from operating from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next day.

Community sports club activities and group sports activities such as table tennis, badminton, soccer, baseball, and screen golf, including friendly matches and league games, will continue to be prohibited as before.

Mayor Lee also mentioned the shortage of hospital beds.

Currently, Gwangju city has secured 686 beds through a joint cooperation system with Jeonnam and Jeonbuk, of which 402 beds are available.

For severe patients, 11 dedicated severe beds and 6 government-designated negative pressure beds have been secured at Chonnam National University Hospital and Chosun University Hospital.

Additionally, 585 beds have been secured at Gwangju and Jeonbuk medical centers including Bitgoeul Chonnam National University Hospital, and the Naju KEPCO KPS Human Resources Development Center is being operated as a residential treatment center with 84 beds for mild patients.

The city is preparing to immediately convert and operate the Fire Academy dormitory (55 beds), currently used as a quarantine facility for overseas arrivals, into a residential treatment center depending on the trend of confirmed cases.

Mayor Lee said, “If we become careless even for a moment, the situation where self-employed business owners close their doors and confirmed cases surge, like in the Seoul metropolitan area, could become a reality in our region. Until vaccines are distributed, social distancing and strict compliance with quarantine rules by each citizen are the only solutions to protect individuals and communities from COVID-19.”

He added, “If individual quarantine nets collapse, all daily lives we have maintained so far could stop instantly. Please cooperate actively with this sense of crisis. Except for absolutely necessary cases, refrain from movement and gatherings, and let’s create a ‘3-No Gwangju’ this year-end with no gatherings, no outings, and no violations of quarantine rules.”

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