Business Restrictions from 10 PM to 5 AM for Entertainment Venues and Bathhouses
Restaurants and Cafes Allowed Delivery and Takeout Only from 10 PM to 5 AM
On the afternoon of the 15th, Lee Yong-seop, Mayor of Gwangju Metropolitan City, held an online briefing on COVID-19 response at the city hall briefing room, announcing a special COVID-19 quarantine week from the 17th to the 23rd. Photo by Gwangju Metropolitan City
[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City has decided to strengthen quarantine rules instead of raising social distancing to level 2 despite the recent surge in COVID-19 confirmed cases.
The city explained that this decision was made considering the high fatigue among citizens due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic lasting over a year and the severe damage to self-employed businesses.
On the 15th at 2:30 PM, Gwangju Mayor Lee Yong-seop held a briefing on COVID-19 response and announced, “Through the COVID-19 Public-Private Joint Countermeasures Committee held this morning, we have designated the period from the 17th to the 23rd as a special quarantine week and decided to intensively implement strengthened quarantine rules, special inspections, and crackdowns on certain facilities.”
Accordingly, the city will first ▲strengthen quarantine rules for facilities with a high risk of infection.
Six types of entertainment facilities (entertainment bars, karaoke bars, emotional pubs, colatecs including dance halls, hunting pubs, holdem pubs), singing practice rooms, indoor standing concert halls, party rooms, indoor sports facilities, bathhouses, and reading rooms/study cafes will be restricted from operating from 10 PM to 5 AM the next day.
Restaurants and cafes will only be allowed takeout and delivery from 10 PM to 5 AM the next day.
▲The ban on private gatherings of five or more people and the prohibition of activities of sports clubs related to recreational sports will continue.
▲Gwangju City, autonomous districts, police, and the education office will jointly conduct intensive on-site inspections of 3Cs (close contact, crowded places, and confined spaces) facilities and multi-use facilities.
They will conduct surprise inspections on compliance with gathering restrictions and quarantine rules (mask-wearing, temperature checks, social distancing, etc.) at high-risk infection facilities such as entertainment venues, restaurants, cafes, and call centers, as well as small gatherings (such as choirs) and food consumption in religious facilities like churches, and mask-wearing among students and staff in schools. Facilities found violating the rules will face administrative actions such as prosecution and fines under a zero-tolerance policy.
▲To detect infected persons early and prevent community spread, the operating hours of the temporary screening clinic at Gwangju City Hall will be extended from 9 AM to 10 PM.
Mayor Lee Yong-seop said, “It is time to once again show the spirit of sharing and solidarity from May 1980,” and urged, “Citizens are asked to actively participate in the so-called ‘1.1.1 Campaign’: meeting one person less, attending one less gathering, and keeping one step further apart.”
He added, “To prevent suffering from COVID-19 infections and avoid situations where many students have to be tested, adults at home should take the lead in following quarantine rules such as wearing masks,” and requested, “Please refrain from close contact as much as possible during the 5.18 Memorial Week and Buddha’s Birthday, and strictly comply with quarantine rules.”
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