Imbalance in Nationwide Quarantine Levels Causes Balloon Effect... Government Trust Collapsed

Taxi Trip to Cheonan, 1 Hour from Seoul, for Nightlife Excursion
Vaccination Reservation Site Crashes Repeatedly... Third Quarter Schedule Likely to Be Delayed One After Another

On the 15th, when the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded in the 1,600s for two consecutive days, citizens lined up for testing at the temporary screening clinic in Seoul Plaza. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Seo So-jeong and Lee Chun-hee] As the fourth wave of COVID-19 spreads nationwide, strong criticism is being raised that the government is losing public trust in the application of social distancing measures and the vaccine pre-registration process.

In particular, there is growing criticism that the escalation of distancing levels in non-metropolitan areas has not been proactively implemented, resulting in repeated reactive measures akin to "post-mortem prescriptions." Coupled with repeated pre-registration access failures and vaccine schedule delays, the quarantine authorities are undermining their own credibility.

‘Excursion Nightlife’ Mocking the Government... Quarantine Imbalance Between Metropolitan and Non-Metropolitan Areas

As confirmed cases surged in the metropolitan area, the quarantine authorities applied the highest level of social distancing, ‘Level 4,’ in the metropolitan area, but lower-level measures of Levels 1 to 2 were applied in non-metropolitan areas, causing an imbalance in quarantine measures. This led to a balloon effect such as ‘excursion nightlife,’ and as confirmed cases in non-metropolitan areas surged, the authorities decided to raise distancing levels there as well, but criticism has arisen that the timing was already missed.

Cheonan City in Chungnam Province is struggling with this balloon effect. This is because many people from the metropolitan area are coming on nightlife excursions to the clustered bars and entertainment facilities in the Dujung-dong dining district, which is only about an hour away from Seoul. Kim (23), a resident of Cheonan, hinted, "Some hunting pubs check IDs and block entry if you are not from Chungnam."

Another Cheonan resident, Choi (21), said, "About half of the people in places like emotional pubs are from the metropolitan area," adding, "I have even seen people bragging that ‘Seoul bars close early, so I came down paying 80,000 won for a taxi.’"

Reflecting the balloon effect, confirmed cases in Cheonan are rapidly increasing. As of midnight on the 15th, 33 new confirmed cases were reported. The recent one-week trend shows a continuous increase: 13 → 15 → 10 → 25 → 17 → 21 → 33.

With confirmed cases rising across Chungnam Province, Level 2 social distancing has been applied since the 13th, and Cheonan City has separately started applying ‘Cheonan-style quarantine measures.’ From midnight on the 13th, private gatherings were limited to a maximum of four people, and from noon on the 14th, operating hours for five types of entertainment facilities?nightclubs, karaoke bars, emotional pubs, colatecs, and hunting pubs?were restricted to 10 p.m.

Professor Lee Jae-gap of Hallym University’s Department of Infectious Diseases pointed out, "Although social distancing has generally been raised, the large difference in quarantine levels between metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas is a negative factor," adding, "The key will be how well control is maintained this week."

Repeated Confusion in Vaccination Reservations for Ages 55?59... Concerns Over Vaccination Schedule Delays

Vaccinations are actually being delayed, raising the question of how to bridge the gap between vaccination and quarantine efforts, which remains a challenge for the authorities.

The COVID-19 vaccine reservation for the 55?59 age group, which resumed the previous day, repeatedly experienced site access failures due to a surge in users. Around the reservation start time of 8 p.m., many users flooded the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s COVID-19 vaccination pre-registration page, making it impossible to access the site for a prolonged period. Access to the pre-registration page was barely possible around 9 p.m., but the message ‘Waiting for access’ appeared with an estimated wait time of up to 10 hours.

Kim (57), a resident of Jongno-gu, Seoul, said, "I missed making a reservation on the first day and tried to make an additional reservation right at 8 p.m., but the site wouldn’t open. After waiting a long time, I barely managed to complete the reservation."

The problem is that due to system instability and vaccine supply schedules, the third-quarter vaccination schedule may be delayed one after another. Since the vaccination timing for the 50?54 age group has been postponed by one week from the original plan, concerns are growing that the vaccination schedule for the 18?49 age group may also be delayed. The second reservation period for the 55?59 age group is now from July 26 to August 14, delayed by one week from the original plan of July 26 to August 7.

Professor Chun Eun-mi of Ewha Mokdong Hospital’s Department of Respiratory Medicine emphasized, "There are about 19 million people aged 18?49 to be vaccinated excluding those already vaccinated," adding, "Since the pre-registration for the 55?59 age group targeting 3.5 million people caused significant confusion, if thorough distributed reservations and vaccinations are not prepared in the future, it could lead to even greater chaos."