[One Month of Social Distancing Level 3] Six Entertainment Venues in Gwangju Violate Quarantine Rules

1 Year and 7 Months into COVID-19... Negligence in Managing Visitor Logs for Basic Quarantine Rules

87 Locations Cumulatively Fined or Administratively Penalized... Quarantine Complacency Still Widespread

A view of Sangmu District in Seo-gu, one of the representative entertainment districts in the Gwangju area.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Despite the social distancing level 3 in the Gwangju area continuing for over a month due to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been confirmed that six entertainment establishments were caught violating quarantine rules during this period.

According to Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 6th, since the implementation of level 3 social distancing on July 27, six establishments?one in Dong-gu, three in Seo-gu, one in Buk-gu, and one in Gwangsan-gu?have received administrative penalties such as fines.

Even though COVID-19 has continued for a long 1 year and 7 months, businesses neglecting the basic quarantine rule of 'visitor log management' continue to appear steadily.

Reflecting on the 'Itaewon Club' case last May, which caused a mass infection due to improperly maintained visitor logs, criticism is also heard that the 'quarantine complacency' at facilities used by unspecified many people is at a serious level.

Among the six establishments caught for negligence in visitor log management, four were the most frequent cases. The most recent case was a holdem pub located in Buk-gu on the 2nd, which received an administrative penalty of a 1.5 million won fine and a 10-day suspension of operation.

If a second violation is detected, an administrative penalty of a 3 million won fine and a 20-day suspension of operation is imposed, but no such cases are known so far.

Since the revision of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act in July, penalties have been strengthened from warnings for the first violation to suspension orders, but the field response indicates that many establishments do not feel the importance of quarantine guidelines.

Among entertainment establishments required to close by 10 p.m., two places, including a danranjumeong (karaoke bar) in Dong-gu recently, were caught by quarantine authorities.

In Seo-gu, on the 19th of last month, an entertainment business owner was reported to the police for selling alcohol after 10 p.m.

So far, 43 entertainment establishments in the Gwangju area have been fined, and 44 have been reported to the police.

For general restaurants, 328 have been fined and 51 reported.

A city official stated, "Currently, each autonomous district is inspecting restaurants twice a week at night to check whether quarantine rules are being properly followed," adding, "The spread is increasing recently in the Gwangju area as well, so we will operate the quarantine monitoring network more thoroughly."

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