Operation of 'Government Joint Inspection Team' for Quarantine Status at Restaurants, Religious Facilities, Ski Resorts, etc.

Focused Inspection of Crowded Places During Winter and Year-End Holidays

On the 17th, citizens are getting tested at the Jung-gu temporary screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced that as of midnight on the same day, there were 1,014 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), bringing the total to 46,453. Photo by Moohnam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) intensifies mainly in the metropolitan area and the number of daily confirmed cases nationwide exceeds 1,000, the government has launched special inspections on major group infection sites such as restaurants, cafes, religious facilities, ski resorts, and accommodation facilities.

On the 17th, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced that it will conduct special inspections by forming a 'Government Joint Inspection Team' with related ministries and local governments, including the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the National Police Agency, to strengthen on-site quarantine measures.

The inspection team plans to conduct detailed checks on compliance with quarantine rules, focusing on major group infection sites such as restaurants, cafes, religious facilities, call centers, and places where crowds gather during the year-end and New Year holidays, such as ski resorts, sledding hills, and accommodation facilities. In particular, districts, counties, and wards where recent confirmed cases have occurred will be designated as intensive management areas, and unannounced inspections will be conducted on related facilities.

This inspection aims to secure the effectiveness of on-site quarantine, and immediate measures such as on-site corrections, fines, and prosecutions will be taken against violating facilities and business owners. In addition, improvement plans will be prepared for facilities with suggestions and difficulties from local government inspection officials and business owners, as well as institutional obstacles, and excellent cases implemented by local governments will be shared at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meetings to provide an opportunity to enhance the quarantine capabilities of local governments.

Kim Hee-gyeom, Director of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, said, "We plan to faithfully perform the role of the second headquarters of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to stabilize rapid on-site quarantine in the metropolitan area and do our best to block the spread of community infection." He added, "As this joint inspection is inevitably being promoted to quickly turn the increasing trend of confirmed cases into a stable one, we ask the public to actively cooperate."

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