[Report] "It's Really Frustrating" First Day of Quarantine Pass Enforcement... Both Customers and Restaurants in 'Confusion'

Daily COVID-19 Cases Remain at 6,000-7,000... Government Mandates 'Vaccine Pass' Verification at Restaurants and Cafes
Self-Employed Say "It's Too Hard to Work"
On First Day After Grace Period Ends, Vaccine Pass Overload Causes QR Code Failures

Notice Regarding Quarantine Pass Attached to a Restaurant Near Yeongdeungpo Station, Seoul.
Photo by Yoon Seulgi seul97@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] "I'm worried when crowds gather. We have to check body temperature, use the Safe Call system, and verify vaccination status, so it's hard to run the business."

On the first day of mandatory submission of the 'Quarantine Pass' (vaccination certificate and negative test confirmation) for using restaurants and cafes on the 13th, both self-employed business owners and customers experienced great confusion due to not only the chaos surrounding vaccine verification but also access failures to the COOV (electronic vaccination certificate) application.

Mr. Kim, in his 60s, who runs a gukbap (soup with rice) restaurant in the Yeongdeungpo district food alley in Seoul, said, "The government said we had to do it, so I spent my own money to buy a separate phone just to scan QR codes and a thermometer. Now we even have to check the quarantine pass one by one, so running the business is getting harder."

He added, "I'm worried especially when many people come at once during lunch hours. Some customers in their 60s and 70s don't use smartphones, and even if they do, they often don't know how to use the quarantine pass or apps, so the staff have to help each one, which takes a lot of effort. Sometimes there are conflicts with customers who fail verification."

Mr. A, in his 50s, who runs a barbecue restaurant nearby, shared a similar situation. He said, "It's already frustrating because the number of customers has decreased, and now the quarantine pass is giving us headaches. I heard that business owners face fines up to 3 million won, which is a huge burden. Asking customers to check their temperature and make Safe Call phone calls was already tough, and now having to ask for vaccination certificates makes running the business even harder," he sighed.

Around 11:30 a.m. on the 13th, Yeongdeungpo Food Alley area, Seoul.
Photo by Seulgi Yoon seul97@

Recently, with the phased recovery of daily life and the spread of the Omicron variant, new COVID-19 cases have been recorded daily in the 6,000 to 7,000 range, and critically ill patients have surged. In response, the government has implemented measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

From the 6th, after a one-week grace period, the quarantine pass requirement was expanded to include facilities such as restaurants, cafes, academies, study rooms, movie theaters, performance halls, study cafes, multi-rooms, PC rooms, indoor stadiums, museums, art galleries, party rooms, libraries, massage and therapy centers, among others. To use these facilities, one must present a vaccination certificate or a negative test result. Additionally, handwritten visitor logs are no longer allowed; electronic entry logs and Safe Call usage are mandatory.

Starting from the 13th, when the quarantine pass was fully enforced, users entering restaurants or cafes without verification face a fine of 100,000 won, and business owners who fail to check face fines of 1.5 million won for the first violation and up to 3 million won for repeated violations. The suspension period for business operations also increases with violations: 20 days for the second, 3 months for the third, and can escalate to closure orders for the fourth violation.

Around 11:30 a.m. on the 13th, Yeongdeungpo Food Alley area, Seoul.
Photo by Yoon Seulgi seul97@

During this grace period, newly subject businesses experienced increased workload and confusion due to the need to verify vaccination status. Especially with mandatory verification extended to essential facilities like restaurants and cafes, both users and operators expressed inconvenience.

Part-time worker B (21), working at a cafe near Yeongdeungpo Station, said, "Since there have been 7,000 confirmed cases recently, the quarantine pass is necessary," but added, "Due to COVID-19, the business is slow, so we reduced staff. Usually, I work alone, so when many people come, I have to check tests, take orders, make drinks, and clean up all by myself. Also, it's hard to turn away customers just because they are unvaccinated when business is already slow."

Meanwhile, starting around 11:40 a.m., the COOV app stopped working, causing confusion. COOV is an app managed by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency that verifies COVID-19 vaccination history. On that day, many posts appeared on various online communities and social media complaining about the COOV app access failure. One netizen, C, said, "I was about to have lunch, but COOV went down. The store said no entry without vaccination verification, so I ended up not eating lunch," expressing frustration.

With the COOV app experiencing access issues, some businesses decided to accept customers first. Mr. D, in his 50s, who runs a private cafe near Yeongdeungpo Station, said, "I was worried about fines, but since several customers had certification errors and I couldn't turn them all away, I accepted them for now."

Due to ongoing inconveniences such as access errors, the quarantine authorities decided on the 13th not to enforce the quarantine pass and postponed the imposition of fines by one day, applying them from midnight on the 14th. Ko Jae-young, spokesperson for the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, apologized, saying, "We apologize for the inconvenience caused by sudden access overloads affecting the electronic entry log and COOV app usage."

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