'Formation of Government Joint Quarantine Inspection Team' Focused Inspection on COVID-19 Vulnerable Facilities... Introduction of 'Ministerial Responsibility System' by Facility

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[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has formed a government joint quarantine inspection team to focus on inspecting vulnerable facilities and will apply a zero-tolerance policy to violations of COVID-19 quarantine rules. By introducing 'quarantine officers,' ministers of each ministry will serve as on-site inspection supervisors for their respective facilities. Additionally, special grants will be provided to exemplary local governments that practice ‘autonomous decentralized responsible quarantine’ tailored to regional characteristics.

On the afternoon of the 12th, Minister Jeon Hae-cheol of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety stated during a non-face-to-face briefing at the Government Seoul Office on the special COVID-19 response quarantine inspection meeting, "Recently, cases of group infections due to violations of quarantine rules at some facilities have not ceased," adding, "The government plans to form a government joint quarantine inspection team involving police and local governments to intensively inspect compliance with quarantine rules at vulnerable facilities. If violations occur, a zero-tolerance principle will be applied, and strict legal measures such as closure orders and fines will be enforced."

The government joint quarantine inspection team, led by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, will conduct on-site inspections with participation from relevant ministries, police, local governments, and private associations and organizations related to each vulnerable facility. In particular, from the 15th, focused inspections will be conducted on nine major vulnerable facilities where group infections have frequently occurred recently: academies, religious and sports facilities, daycare centers and bathhouses, construction sites, door-to-door sales, entertainment venues, and restaurants and cafes. The government joint quarantine inspections will continue until the quarantine situation stabilizes, and the activities and inspection results of the inspection team will be transparently disclosed periodically.

Ministers of each ministry will serve as ‘quarantine officers’ responsible for on-site inspections of their respective facilities. Ministers in charge will form consultative bodies with associations and organizations of each facility to encourage voluntary participation in quarantine through regular meetings, directly inspect the quarantine situation on-site, and promptly address any deficiencies in quarantine response. Furthermore, opinions on difficulties and suggestions from local government quarantine response sites will be collected, and any legal or institutional shortcomings that hinder quarantine efforts will be swiftly supplemented and improved.

Minister Jeon explained, "By introducing a ‘ministerial responsibility system’ for each facility, ministers of each ministry will become quarantine officers for their respective facilities such as correctional facilities and logistics centers, directly visit the facilities to inspect the quarantine situation, and immediately improve any deficiencies on-site," adding, "We will also form consultative bodies with associations and organizations of each facility to reflect on-site voices in quarantine policies." The ministerial responsibility system for each facility will operate alongside the government joint quarantine inspection team until the quarantine situation stabilizes.

Excellent private organizations and local governments actively participating in quarantine will be supported administratively and financially, and their autonomy in quarantine will also be expanded. For multi-use facilities where no group infections have occurred for a certain period, local governments will be allowed to partially relax quarantine rules for those facilities. This participatory responsible quarantine support plan will be reviewed together with the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters and local governments. Special grants will be provided to exemplary local governments practicing ‘autonomous decentralized responsible quarantine’ tailored to regional characteristics.

Minister Jeon stated, "We will support private organizations and local governments that exemplarily practice participatory quarantine in various ways," and added, "We will review with the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters and local governments a plan to allow local governments to partially relax quarantine rules for private organizations and facilities that sincerely engage in voluntary quarantine management and actively participate in government quarantine inspections."

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