Special Quarantine Measures in the Seoul Metropolitan Area for 2 Weeks in July...Focused Inspections and Expanded Preemptive Testing at Facilities Popular with Young People (Comprehensive)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The government will operate a special quarantine inspection period centered on the metropolitan area for two weeks starting next month on the 1st. It will compile and disclose weekly the quarantine indicators by city, county, and district, including patient occurrence and epidemiological investigation status in the metropolitan area, and plans to have each city, county, and district establish improvement plans for indicators with insufficient epidemiological investigations.

On the 29th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced that it decided this after receiving and discussing the ‘Metropolitan Area Special Quarantine Measures’ report from Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi Province.

First, in Seoul, while expanding proactive testing, focused inspections will be conducted on facilities used by young and middle-aged adults. Especially due to the recent rapid increase in confirmed cases in Seoul, the operating hours of health center screening clinics will be extended, and on-site screening clinics will be installed immediately for testing in case of cluster infections. Accordingly, the operating hours of health center screening clinics will be extended from the previous 9 a.m. to 5 or 6 p.m. on weekdays to 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., and from 9 a.m. to 3 or 4 p.m. on weekends and holidays to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Proactive testing will also be promoted by visiting academy-dense areas. This method involves installing mobile screening clinics in areas dense with academies to actively encourage testing for symptomatic individuals among academy workers and students. Gangnam-gu, Nowon-gu, Yangcheon-gu, where academies are densely located in Seoul, will definitely implement mobile screening tests, and additional expansion will be made for other 22 autonomous districts that request screening tests centered on academy areas.

Furthermore, focused on-site inspections will be conducted on facilities used by young and middle-aged adults. In case of infection clusters within industries, diagnostic testing orders will be implemented.

Incheon will strengthen quarantine rule inspections for multi-use facilities according to the revised social distancing and simultaneously enhance the response system against variant viruses. Special inspections will be conducted for 8,567 multi-use facilities such as entertainment bars and karaoke rooms for two weeks starting from the 1st of next month. During the special quarantine inspection period, at least one inspection will be conducted for each target facility to focus on the revised quarantine rules, and strict follow-up measures such as one-strike-out will be enforced for violations.

Gyeonggi Province plans to conduct periodic proactive testing for vulnerable industries and promote prevention using self-test kits. In particular, weekly proactive testing is recommended for business owners and workers (including short-term receptionists) of entertainment facilities and instructors at academies, which are facilities with concerns about cluster outbreaks. However, those who have completed vaccination are excluded from periodic proactive testing. Industries with high infection frequency such as call centers and logistics centers will promote prevention using self-test kits.

Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-cheol said, "The purpose of the metropolitan area special quarantine measures is to conduct proactive testing to detect patients early before vaccination progresses among young and middle-aged adults," and "we will work together with local governments to strengthen quarantine measures further so that herd immunity can be achieved by November."

Regarding the call for stronger preventive measures, he said, "Expanding proactive testing is a measure to prevent additional infections through those patients," and "the new social distancing revision allows relevant businesses, associations, local governments, and related ministries to take responsibility for regulations autonomously, so if quarantine rules are followed according to this guideline, preventive effects are expected."

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