News about the COVID-19 situation around the Busan

Here are the latest updates about the COVID-19 situation around the Busan area from BeFM News and local media.

Busan Gets 13 More Cases Yesterday

13 people have tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, raising the total cumulative caseload in the city to 240.

The infection routes are currently being compiled by health authorities. While most seem to have contracted the pandemic virus via secondary infection, a few of them have been linked to cases from the Seoul Metropolitan area.

Schools Unsure How To Deal With New Outbreaks

Schools in Busan including elementary, middle, high schools, and universities entering the second semester are under a state of emergencies with rapidly increasing COVID19 cases here in the port city.

As of this yesterday, 18 students in Busan have been confirmed positive for the new coronavirus.

On the 9th, one adult student from the middle school attached to the Pukyong Health High School (No.174) was confirmed, and on the 11th, 5 students of the same class (No.179~183), a granddaughter (No.182) tested positive for COVID19.

Seven of the 11 infected students are related to the attached middle school.

As the number of confirmed students increased, the Busan City Office of Education stopped teaching classes at all schools for four days from the 18th and switched to remote classes.

Gijang-gun Takes Stricter Measures Than Busan

Gijang-gun office in Busan, announced that it will implement intensive quarantine measures of social distancing.

On the 17th, the city of Busan raised its social distancing to the second stage, but Gijang-gun office has raised the level of response further to level three.

This action was taken when Gijang-gun head Oh Gyu-seok called for stricter quarantine rules to prep against the re-proliferation of COVID19 at an emergency disaster safety countermeasure headquarters meeting attended by department heads and above on the 16th.

Accordingly, Gijang-gun completely stopped operating public facilities, including 7 public libraries, 61 small libraries, 10 local children’s centers, and 7 outdoor sports facilities starting on the 18th.

Level three social distancing is typically applied when there are daily infection cases between 100 to 200 or more, or when daily cases double more than twice a week. Under social distancing level three, 10 or more group gatherings are restricted, all sports activities are stopped, all public facilities are shut down until further notice, and schools are either closed or operate remote classes for students.

Police Searching For Two Persons Related to Sarang Jeil Church

The police have been informed by the offices of Haeundae-gu and Dongnae-gu of the whereabouts of two persons in the Busan area who are related to the Sarang Jeil Church, where confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 400.

The police said that they conducted joint inspections with Busan city and local governments overnight on 251 high-risk facilities, such as entertainment bars, but most of them complied with the quarantine rules.

Three More Caught Breaking Self-Quarantine Orders

Three people given self-quarantine orders have been caught violating related law in Busan.

The health authorities of Busan City said yesterday they are due to send the case over to the police accusing a woman in her 60s, and a mother and daughter who are in their 80s and 50s, respectively, for allegedly leaving their place of self-isolation without permission, violating the Infectious Disease Prevention and Management Act.

According to the city, the woman in her 60s came out of the house on the 13th, visited a nearby sauna, and was caught during an inspection check.

She came back from Japan and was notified to stay isolated from the 2nd to the 16th.

On the 18th, the mother and daughter left the house, their place of self-quarantine, and were caught during an inspection crackdown.

They recently arrived from the United States and had to stay at home until the 20th.

As of this day, 56 people have been caught for leaving their place of self-isolation in Busan without permission.

41 were sent to the prosecution, and six are being investigated by the police.

One person was charged with a fine, four were punished even if the offense was weak, and four more are due to be sent to be prosecuted.

New Social Distancing Guidelines Causing Problems for Weddings and Parties

The tightened social distancing guidelines in place have put citizens in perplexed state as important social plans, such as weddings or first-birthday banquets, which often require minimum reservations in the scale of hundreds with harsh refund penalties

Under the Level 2 social distancing scheme, indoor gatherings of 50 or more people and outdoor events of 100 or more people are prohibited, and citizens are advised to stay at home, except for necessary occasions, at least for two weeks.

Those in violation could be fined up to 3 million won (US$2,540) and charged for quarantine and medical costs if found responsible for transmissions.

Online communities on the topics of wedding preparations and child care have since been flooded with complaints and queries on how to deal with the virtual ban on large gatherings in and around Seoul.

An online petition has also appeared on the presidential website, demanding the government rein in the catering industry’s harsh refund-cancellation policy. Over 33,000 have signed the petition as of this (19) morning.