Local authorities on alert as vacationers flocking to Jeju, Gangwon, Busan

By Jun Ji-hye

Local authorities on Jeju Island and in Gangwon Province and Busan, popular tourist destinations known for their beaches, are struggling to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections, as an increasing number of vacationers are visiting the regions for the summer holiday season.

The country is facing another wave of infections, with the new daily cases having exceeded 1,000 for the past week. Most infections have been focused on the Seoul metropolitan area, but cases reported in other parts of the country are also showing a growing trend, with local authorities raising concerns that the fourth wave of infections could be spreading from the Seoul metropolitan area to their regions.

Adding to concerns is that the government's decision to apply the toughest, Level 4, social distancing rules to the Seoul metropolitan area, beginning Monday, is expected to increase movements of people from the area to major tourist destinations that are imposing less harsh antivirus measures.

Jeju Island has received about 34,000 tourists a day on average this month, and more than 60 percent of them departed from Gimpo International Airport located in the capital, according to local authorities.

Amid growing concerns over the virus inflow, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province raised the social distancing rules to Level 2 to be applied for two weeks beginning from Monday, and banned gatherings of seven or more people. The rules also banned entertainment facilities on the island from operating after 10 p.m.

The enhanced measures came as the island has reported an average 15.42 daily new cases over the past week, already exceeding the benchmark of 13 to raise distancing rules to Level 3.

According to local authorities, more than 50 percent of virus patients on the island were either those who had visited other parts of the country or who had come in close contact with infected persons from other areas.

Gangwon Province is facing a similar situation as beaches in Yangyang and Sokcho in the province have been attracting more than 26,000 vacationers on a daily basis, up from the average 10,000 tallied last year.

In response to mounting concerns, local authorities in the province decided, Monday, to go to Level 2 for all cities and counties in the province for 17 days beginning from Thursday.

Chuncheon City in the province was excluded from the decision as the city had already gone to Level 3 of its own accord.

“We issued an administrative order making wearing face masks mandatory at all places for 17 days, regardless of whether or not people are vaccinated, and whether or not places are crowded,” an official from the government of Gangwon Province said. “To prevent beaches from being too crowded, 83 beaches in the province are operating several systems, such as an advance reservation system.”

The province also banned vacationers from drinking after 7 p.m. at five major beaches including Gyeongpo Beach and Sokcho Beach.

The Busan Metropolitan Government has also implemented Level 2 distancing rules in response to an increasing number of tourists and growing concerns over the spread of infections in the region.