S. Korea enforces no tolerance policy towards self-quarantine violators
- 4 years ago
"자가격리 위반 엄청 처벌"...5일부터 '1년 이하 징역 또는 1천만원 이하 벌금' 적용
After stabilizing its number of new COVID-19 cases, South Korea wants to prevent a second wave of infections.
But, those ignoring quarantine orders are increasingly becoming a public health risk.
To halt the spread of the coronavirus, South Korea is implementing more severe penalties for those violating the country's self-quarantine measures starting this Sunday.
Local governments have already been bringing criminal charges against those violating self-quarantine orders.
Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
Those who violate South Korea's self-quarantine measures will soon face more severe punishments.
Currently, people breaking quarantine can be fined up to 2-thousand-4-hundred U.S. dollars.
But from Sunday,...the penalty will be increased to a maximum fine of 8-thousand-1-hundred dollars or a prison term of up to one year.
"We will enforce severe punishment for self-quarantine violators, regardless of their nationality. In the case of foreigners, deportation and prohibition of re-entry will be applied quickly. Once again, we are stressing that disobeying self-quarantine threatens the safety of our community."
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters,... the police have received a total of 52 cases of self-quarantine violations as of Wednesday, with six cases so far being passed on to the prosecution.
Local governments are showing no leniency towards those who ignore self-isolation measures.
When an 80-year old Korean woman living on Jeju Island reportedly violated self-quarantine to go to a restaurant with a friend, local authorities immediately took action.
"Given the lady's old age, we fully understand the frustration of self-quarantine. But since there cannot be any exceptions, we've decided to file a criminal charge against her.
With the number of COVID-19 cases on the increase around the world,...all entrants to South Korea have been subject to a 14-day quarantine since Wednesday.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News.
After stabilizing its number of new COVID-19 cases, South Korea wants to prevent a second wave of infections.
But, those ignoring quarantine orders are increasingly becoming a public health risk.
To halt the spread of the coronavirus, South Korea is implementing more severe penalties for those violating the country's self-quarantine measures starting this Sunday.
Local governments have already been bringing criminal charges against those violating self-quarantine orders.
Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
Those who violate South Korea's self-quarantine measures will soon face more severe punishments.
Currently, people breaking quarantine can be fined up to 2-thousand-4-hundred U.S. dollars.
But from Sunday,...the penalty will be increased to a maximum fine of 8-thousand-1-hundred dollars or a prison term of up to one year.
"We will enforce severe punishment for self-quarantine violators, regardless of their nationality. In the case of foreigners, deportation and prohibition of re-entry will be applied quickly. Once again, we are stressing that disobeying self-quarantine threatens the safety of our community."
According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters,... the police have received a total of 52 cases of self-quarantine violations as of Wednesday, with six cases so far being passed on to the prosecution.
Local governments are showing no leniency towards those who ignore self-isolation measures.
When an 80-year old Korean woman living on Jeju Island reportedly violated self-quarantine to go to a restaurant with a friend, local authorities immediately took action.
"Given the lady's old age, we fully understand the frustration of self-quarantine. But since there cannot be any exceptions, we've decided to file a criminal charge against her.
With the number of COVID-19 cases on the increase around the world,...all entrants to South Korea have been subject to a 14-day quarantine since Wednesday.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News.