Basic Quarantine Rules Enforced Starting Today... Authorities Say "No Separate End Date"

"Minimizing Regulations Such as Business Suspension by Strengthening Basic Aspects"

On the 15th, when social distancing in the metropolitan area was eased to Level 2, office workers who finished their meals at a cafe in Seoul are purchasing drinks. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] As the government began enforcing the 'Basic Quarantine Rules' to strengthen COVID-19 prevention measures at multi-use facilities starting from the 29th, it stated that there is no separate end date for these rules.

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said during the COVID-19 back briefing, "Last weekend, administrative orders regarding the basic quarantine rules were sent to each multi-use facility, and from today, they have become mandatory," adding, "Local governments are also planning to conduct inspections related to this."

He continued, "Regarding inspections, local governments are already conducting checks on more than 10,000 locations daily," and added, "(The basic quarantine rules) particularly concern electronic entry logs, capacity limits, and bans on food consumption."

The basic quarantine rules operate independently from social distancing levels. They systematize fundamental COVID-19 prevention measures, and the health authorities explained that no end date has been set. Son stated, "The direction is to suppress the COVID-19 spread as much as possible while strengthening basic measures to minimize regulations such as business suspensions and to coexist with COVID-19," and added, "These will function as basic rules to be followed continuously without an end date."

On the 26th, the government expanded the basic quarantine rules applied to multi-use facilities and users to seven items: mandatory mask-wearing, posting and guidance of quarantine rules, management of entry logs, regular disinfection and ventilation, prohibition of food consumption, symptom checks and entry restrictions, and designation and operation of quarantine managers. The quarantine rules, which were previously applied according to social distancing levels, will now be implemented independently of those levels. The number of facilities subject to the basic quarantine rules increased from the existing 24 types to 33, with the addition of nine new types including sports stadiums, libraries, art galleries and museums, and kids cafes.

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