Authorities: "Everland Water Gun Event Poses Health Risks... Metropolitan Area Quarantine Strengthening Measures to Be Announced Tomorrow" (Update)

Tomorrow (29th) Prime Minister-led Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting
Discussion on Strengthening Quarantine Measures in the Metropolitan Area under New Social Distancing Rules

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The quarantine authorities recently described the water gun festival held at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province as a "high-risk event for infection" and stated their intention to request Gyeonggi Province and the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to investigate whether quarantine rules were violated.

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, pointed out during the COVID-19 briefing on the 28th, "It was reported that a water gun event was held at Everland the day before," adding, "It was a crowded event where social distancing was difficult, and especially masks lose their droplet-blocking effect when the filter gets wet."

At Everland, hundreds of visitors participated in the event the previous day, getting sprayed with water and shooting water guns for about 30 minutes. Everland took measures such as drawing yellow lines on the ground at 1-meter intervals to encourage social distancing, but due to the nature of the event, quarantine rules were not followed.

Son said, "For high-risk events like this, it is basically necessary to refrain from holding them," and explained, "We plan to request the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Gyeonggi Province to investigate the situation and urge caution to prevent such incidents from recurring."

Additionally, the quarantine authorities plan to discuss and announce measures to strengthen quarantine in the metropolitan area together with three local governments in the metropolitan area on the 29th. As a new social distancing system will be introduced in July, separate quarantine strengthening measures will be applied to the metropolitan area, where the scale of the outbreak is large. Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Quarantine Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said, "Tomorrow (the 29th), a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) meeting chaired by the Prime Minister will be held," adding, "At this meeting, quarantine measures for each local government in the metropolitan area will be discussed and announced."

The CDSCH meeting chaired by the Prime Minister is usually held on Wednesdays, but this week it will be held on Tuesday. In particular, the meeting on the 29th will be conducted in a special format focusing on the metropolitan area.

Son expressed concern, saying, "Ahead of the new social distancing system in July, there is worry that the basic quarantine rules may not be followed due to excessively relaxed quarantine vigilance," and added, "This relaxation of vigilance, the unvaccinated population aged 20 to 50, the large-scale outbreak in the metropolitan area, and the vacation season are key issues we are paying close attention to."

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