Gwangju City to Implement Adjusted Business Hours Until 10 PM by the 13th of Next Month

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] COVID-19 quarantine guidelines in the Gwangju area will be partially eased.

Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held an online COVID-19 briefing on the 18th and announced that, reflecting government guidelines, the social distancing adjustment plan will be implemented for three weeks from the 19th to April 13.

First, the operating hours of entertainment facilities, restaurants and cafes, singing practice rooms, bathhouses, and indoor sports facilities will be extended by one hour until 10 p.m.

Specifically, ▲ Group 1 includes entertainment pubs, danran pubs, clubs (nightclubs), emotional pubs, hunting pochas, colatecs, and dance halls ▲ Group 2 includes restaurants, cafes, singing practice rooms, bathhouses, and indoor sports facilities ▲ Group 3 includes lifelong vocational education academies, PC rooms, arcades, multi-rooms, casinos, party rooms, massage parlors, saunas, movie theaters, and performance halls (allowed until 9 p.m. start time).

Private gatherings remain limited to six people regardless of vaccination status, as before.

Unvaccinated individuals who do not meet the exemption criteria for the quarantine pass cannot use restaurants and cafes together with vaccinated persons as before and can only use them alone.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19 infection, kindergartens, daycare centers, local children's centers, and community care centers in the area, which had been closed for the past month, will resume operations from the 21st.

With the epidemiological investigation method changing to a ‘self-entry survey’ where confirmed patients manage themselves, the mandatory ‘facility entry log’ introduced for tracking confirmed patients' movements and identifying contacts will be temporarily suspended.

However, QR code operation to verify vaccination status at quarantine pass facilities will remain mandatory.

The application of the youth quarantine pass, originally scheduled to start on the 1st of next month, will undergo a one-month grace period and be fully implemented from April 1.

Mayor Lee Yong-seop of Gwangju said, “Our city, the five district offices, and the medical community have agreed to cooperate and respond jointly as follows to ensure that confirmed patients do not feel neglected during home treatment,” adding, “In emergency situations involving pregnant confirmed patients, we have consulted with related agencies to enable rapid transfer to Chonnam National University Hospital, which is equipped with delivery rooms, neonatal rooms, delivery beds, and pediatric beds capable of COVID-19 treatment.”

He continued, “For pediatric confirmed patients, Chonnam National University Hospital and Chosun University Hospital will take priority in treatment, and general hospitals in the area will actively cooperate in securing dedicated medical staff,” and explained, “For home-treated patients who require face-to-face treatment due to symptom onset, we will increase the number of outpatient clinics from the current one (Cheomdan Medicare Clinic) to three.”

He also stated, “We will secure additional ‘Home Treatment Medical Consultation Centers’ capable of 24-hour non-face-to-face medical consultations at an early stage,” and added, “The Gwangju City Pharmacists Association has agreed to actively cooperate to ensure smooth processes from telephone consultation to medication dispensing and delivery at all general pharmacies.”

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