COVID-19 Positive Patients Allowed to Vote in Elections... Going Out Permitted from 18:20

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] COVID-19 confirmed patients are also temporarily allowed to go out today to participate in the 8th nationwide local elections held simultaneously.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) has allowed infectious disease patients undergoing treatment or isolation to go out for voting, in accordance with the 'Public Official Election Act' and the 'Enforcement Decree of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act,' similar to the 20th presidential election.

The voting time for COVID-19 confirmed patients is from 6:30 PM to 7:30 PM. Considering the time required for voting, going out is permitted from 6:20 PM.

At the polling station, voters must bring their ID and the outing guidance text message for confirmed patients. The outing guidance messages will be sent collectively at 12 PM on May 31, the day before the election, and at 12 PM on the election day, June 1.

If a person is notified of confirmation on the election day, they will receive an outing guidance message along with the confirmation and isolation notification.

If a person receives confirmation notification from a medical institution on the election day but does not receive a message from the public health center, they can present the confirmation notification message received from the medical institution to the election staff to vote.

The KDCA explained that outing guidance messages may be sent again on June 1 to those who voted early on May 27-28, but if they have already voted early, going out is not allowed.

After voting, COVID-19 confirmed voters must comply with quarantine rules and immediately return to their isolation location.

A KDCA official stated, "In a situation where COVID-19 variants and confirmed cases continue to occur, we plan to thoroughly manage disinfection at polling and counting stations together with the National Election Commission to ensure safe voting."

Meanwhile, the quarantine authorities have opened and are operating a 'hotline' during the voting period of the June 1 local elections. It is a rapid consultation channel among the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and the KDCA. It was established to prevent the recurrence of errors in confirmed patient voting that occurred during the presidential election in March and has been operating since May 27.

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