Jinju City Launches Sauna-Origin Early Resolution TF... "Please Refrain from Traveling"

Junsuk Jeong, Deputy Mayor of Jinju City

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Jinju City, Gyeongnam Province, has formed a task force (TF) and taken early measures to contain the outbreak as confirmed cases surged due to a group infection originating from a sauna.

On the 13th, Jung Joon-seok, Deputy Mayor of Jinju, held a press conference at the city hall briefing room and announced, "From yesterday afternoon until this morning, 45 confirmed cases have been reported within the city."

Among them, 40 confirmed cases are related to the group infection at 'Pharos Health Sauna.' Since the first confirmed case on the 9th, a total of 131 additional cases have been confirmed.

This sauna is located in a densely populated area of apartments and houses, and many users pay for several months in advance for 'monthly bathing,' increasing the likelihood of more confirmed cases.

Starting from midnight on the 13th, Jinju City has issued a complete ban on gatherings at 98 bathing establishments within the region for two weeks.

On the same day, the 'Jinju Bathhouse-Related Group Infection Response Task Force' was established to manage the COVID-19 group infection situation.

The TF consists of five teams: Situation Team, Quarantine Investigation Team, Support Team, On-site Response Team, and others, carrying out personnel support, facility inspections, epidemiological and on-site investigations, and equipment and material support.

Jinju City has also strictly applied quarantine rules to vulnerable facilities such as nursing homes, postponing non-face-to-face visits, which were scheduled to be implemented under social distancing level 1.5, until the 28th.

To block potential transmission, free rapid and proactive testing for all citizens will be re-implemented.

Additionally, from the 13th, indoor public sports facilities will be closed, and the capacity limit for outdoor public sports facilities will be reduced from the existing 50% to 30%.

The National Jinju Museum, Lee Seong-ja Art Museum, Bronze Age Museum, and Pterosaur Footprint Museum will remain closed until the situation stabilizes.

The four comprehensive social welfare centers will suspend face-to-face programs starting from the 15th, operating only 50 programs that were originally non-face-to-face or can be converted to non-face-to-face.

Deputy Mayor Jung Joon-seok said, "Going forward, the TF team will do its best to quickly block the spread of group infections and conduct epidemiological investigations to help citizens restore their daily lives," and requested, "Due to the nationwide increase in confirmed cases and the occurrence of group infections in our area, please refrain from visiting other regions and limit movement within the city as much as possible."

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