[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] On the 6th, the government will hold discussions among related ministries on how to supplement the gathering ban measures for indoor sports facilities such as gyms, which have sparked fairness controversies.
Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters' quarantine team, said at a regular briefing on the 6th, "At today's Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting, there was a discussion that it is necessary to comprehensively review the issues where places that are not registered are excluded from exceptions to the gathering ban, despite being similar businesses including gyms." He added, "We will organize and provide guidance again through discussions with related ministries today."
Earlier, the government extended the social distancing measures of level 2.5 in the metropolitan area and level 2 in non-metropolitan areas for two weeks from the 4th to the 17th, while exceptionally allowing some facilities to be exempt from the gathering ban. Under the pretext of resolving the care gap for children and students, places classified as sports training centers under the Sports Facilities Act, such as Taekwondo and Judo, were allowed to operate for children and students up to the third grade of high school, provided that no more than 9 people are present at the same time. Places registered as academies or private tutoring centers can open without age restrictions as long as the number of students does not exceed 9 at the same time.
On the other hand, similar businesses such as kickboxing and jiu-jitsu, which are not classified as sports training centers, continue to be subject to the gathering ban, causing fairness controversies. Indoor sports facilities such as gyms, screen golf centers, and billiard halls are also excluded from this classification and continue to be under the gathering ban.
Yoon said, "In the process of allowing up to 9 students for tutoring at academies and private tutoring centers to solve the care gap issue, fairness issues have been raised regarding indoor sports facilities." He added, "We plan to discuss overall matters including additional points to be supplemented, issues pointed out on-site, and solutions."
Meanwhile, to prevent the domestic inflow of the UK variant virus, the government plans to decide through discussions among related ministries whether to further extend the suspension of flights from the UK, which has been in effect since the 23rd of last month. The flight suspension has already been extended once and is currently in effect until the 7th.
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