Violators of self-quarantine rules are required to wear wristband

According to the Friday announcement of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters in South Korea, those who have violated self-quarantine rules are required to wear a wristband from Monday to prevent the spread of COVID-19. When people under self-quarantine leave their quarantine places, local government officials and police officers will be deployed to confirm‎ violations and put wristbands on them. If violators refuse to wear wristbands, they will be quarantined in separate facilities designated by the government. The new policy does not retroactively apply to those put under self-quarantine before Monday.

As the wristband policy does not have grounds under current laws, it cannot be forced without wearers’ agreement. Therefore, the South Korean government has decided to quarantine the violators who refuse to wear wristbands in separate facilities. Costs associated with quarantine in facilities should be covered by the violators.

The government is also planning to upgrade the functions of the self-quarantine application to ensure effective surveillance of self-quarantine violators. Meanwhile, the number of COVID-19 cases in the country stood at 10,708 on Friday with six more cases from the previous day, maintaining single-digit new cases for six consecutive days. There was zero death on Friday for the first time in 39 days since March 16.


sojee@donga.com