Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, Requests Local Governments Be Given Discretion Over COVID-19 Social Distancing Measures

"Eight Cities and Counties in Gyeongbuk Region Have Had No Confirmed Cases in the Past Month... Applying the Same Quarantine Rules as the Capital Area Is Too Harsh"

Governor Lee Cheol-woo of Gyeongbuk Province speaking at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on the 10th.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] Lee Cheol-woo, Governor of Gyeongbuk Province, attended the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on the 10th and strongly urged that "different quarantine measures should be applied to the metropolitan area and local regions regarding the COVID-19 social distancing guidelines."

He emphasized the recent trend of COVID-19 cases concentrating in the metropolitan area while local regions are stabilizing, and requested Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun to grant discretion to each local government.

Governor Lee stated, "Bonghwa-gun has had no cases since April last year, and Ulleung-gun has only one confirmed case, which was an outsider, not a resident of Ulleung. Applying the same stringent quarantine measures as the metropolitan area is too harsh."

He continued, "Due to COVID-19 originating from the metropolitan area, local regions are facing excessive regulations, and small business owners are struggling," adding, "The current approach of applying the same standards to Gyeongbuk, where quarantine control is well managed, and the metropolitan area should be improved."

Meanwhile, as of the 10th, among the 23 cities and counties in the Gyeongbuk region, eight cities and counties (Mungyeong, Gunwi, Uiseong, Yeongyang, Seongju, Bonghwa, Uljin, Ulleung) have not reported any COVID-19 cases in the past month.

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