[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 12th that it will conduct a joint government special quarantine inspection targeting seven vulnerable sectors, including academies, restaurants, and entertainment establishments in the metropolitan area, as new COVID-19 cases have surged recently, mainly in the metropolitan area.
At a briefing held at the Government Seoul Office on the same day during the 'COVID-19 Response Metropolitan Area Special Quarantine Inspection Meeting,' the Ministry presented a government joint special quarantine inspection and quarantine reinforcement support plan based on this content.
The government joint special quarantine inspection team will include five central ministries, local governments, and the police, expanding from the existing 28 teams with 64 members to 118 teams with 590 members. The special quarantine inspection target areas are 59 cities, counties, and districts in the metropolitan area, specifically 25 in Seoul, 26 in Gyeonggi, and 8 in Incheon.
The inspection sectors are seven vulnerable areas where group infections have occurred: academies and private institutes, indoor sports facilities, religious facilities, singing practice rooms, bathhouse and lodging facilities, entertainment facilities, and restaurants and cafes. Instead of a one-time sample inspection, a thorough full inspection will be conducted intensively over a set period for the relevant facilities.
For infection-vulnerable workplaces other than the seven special inspection sectors, 24 relevant central ministries and local governments will participate in inspections. Each ministry will check the quarantine status of their respective facilities, focus on promoting the revised quarantine rules, and emphasize voluntary quarantine through meetings with related organizations and associations.
To enhance the enforcement of quarantine inspections, the government is also implementing legal and institutional measures. From the 8th, under the Enforcement Rules of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, business owners violating quarantine rules such as non-compliance with operating hours will be subject to business suspension orders according to the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act. Additionally, to increase the effectiveness of inspections, the results will be actively disclosed to the public through briefings and other means on an ongoing basis.
Furthermore, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will support strengthening quarantine in the metropolitan area by enhancing diagnostic testing capacity at temporary screening clinics, expanding quarantine personnel, and promoting autonomous vaccination by local governments. Thirty-two additional temporary screening clinics will be installed in areas with high floating populations, operating hours will be extended, and special grants will be provided to facilitate rapid installation of temporary screening clinics. The recruitment schedule for local government officials will also be significantly shortened to quickly secure infectious disease response experts.
Autonomous vaccination led by local governments will also be fully implemented. For vaccination of high-risk groups in the metropolitan area, the first phase will vaccinate 340,000 people in Seoul and Gyeonggi only, and the second and third phase supplies totaling 2.66 million doses will be allocated proportionally to the population of 17 cities and provinces, with vaccinations scheduled to proceed sequentially from the end of July. To strengthen vaccination capacity, 15 additional centers will be established nationwide, including 13 in Seoul and Gyeonggi, operating a total of 282 vaccination centers.
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