Tracking devices required for self-quarantine violators from Monday

Teachers at Yeouido Girls' High School in Seoul hand over mock test papers for high school seniors preparing for this year's College Scholastic Ability Test, Friday. Students are supposed to complete the test at home and return the answer sheets to the school for marking. This is one of the many changes in education brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Jun Ji-hye

Violators of the two-week self-quarantine rule aimed at containing the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic will be required to wear electronic bracelets designed to track their locations, the health authorities said Friday. The new rule will be implemented from Monday.

The measure comes as cases of people breaching the self-isolation rule in recent weeks have raised public concern over the potential for the further spread of the contagious disease.

Those who have been asked to self-quarantine at home include people who have come into contact with infected patients, and those who have returned home from overseas amid the global coronavirus pandemic.

When people under self-quarantine are found to have breached the rules, officials from municipal administrations and the police will be sent to the scene and ask the violators to wear the bracelets for the rest of their isolation.

Since there are no legal grounds to force people to wear the bracelets, officials need to ask for the consent from the violators.

If the violators do not agree to wear the electronic tracking devices, they will be quarantined at designated facilities and made to pay for the expenses incurred, the authorities said.

The government has also improved the function of a smartphone application designed to monitor movements of those in self-isolation to improve surveillance.

The number of self-isolators reached a peak of 59,000, April 14, and has consistently decreased to 44,725 as of 6 p.m. Thursday, officials said, noting that 269 people had breached the self-quarantine rule.

“We will increase the number of phone calls to check on those in self-isolation to three times a day from twice a day,” Vice Health and Welfare Minister Kim Kang-lip said in a press briefing. “We will also expand spot inspections without prior notice to strengthen monitoring.”

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) detected six new COVID-19 infections Thursday, bringing the nation's total to 10,708.

The figure marked a sharp drop from the peak of 909 new cases reported Feb. 29.

The death toll remained unchanged at 240.

Despite the looming signs of a slowdown, the health authorities are still on alert, being mindful of the possibility of a second wave of infections.

They once again urged citizens to follow the government's social distancing guidelines.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun also said Friday that the government will allow people to buy three face masks each per week under its public distribution system, starting next week.

Since March 9, the government has implemented a strict mask distribution system, allowing each person to buy two masks a week to avoid a potential supply crisis.

“Citizens will need more masks as an upswing in economic activities is expected,” Chung said.