The CDSCHQ eased restrictions on business hours of movie theaters and cafes following
the reorganization of social distancing, and intended to introduce a quarantine pass or
vaccine pass that allows use of the facility for those who have completed the COVID-19
vaccination or those who have been confirmed not to be infected. The CDSCHQ announced
that this measure is in the direction of deviating from the existing regulations to suppress the
occurrence of confirmed cases, and focusing on increasing the vaccination rate to suppress
serious cases and death and blocking the transmission to unvaccinated and vulnerable groups.
The quarantine pass was a measure that required confirmation of COVID-19 vaccination
or PCR negative confirmation115) when entering or using multi-use facilities, and fines of
1.5 million won for the first violation and 3 million won for the second violation has been
charged to the business owners.116) A PCR negative confirmation procedure was required in
order for those who had not been vaccinated to enter and use facilities that required
quarantine passes, and since PCR negative confirmation is valid only within two days from
the notification date, it could cause considerable difficulties in using facilities that require
the confirmation.
Since the end of 2021, as the number of patients with COVID-19 has soared, the
applicability of the quarantine pass system has changed, and in December 2021, restaurants,
cafes, academies and libraries, etc. required quarantine pass. Moreover, people who cannot
be vaccinated for medical reasons, those who have recovered from COVID-19, and children
under the age of 12 were not required to have the quarantine pass, but children and
adolescents between the ages of 12 and 18 and pregnant women needed quarantine passes.
Some criticized that the introduction of the quarantine pass policy excessively restricts
individual freedom of unvaccinated people, etc. In particular, there was great opposition to
the quarantine pass targeting teenagers. After November 2021, civic groups, such as small
business owners and parent groups held rallies against the quarantine pass, and filed a
lawsuit to cancel and suspend the enforcement of the quarantine pass.117)
115) In principle, the operator or user of a multi-use facility used an electronic access list (QR check-in) or made a
safety call.
116) Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Press Release, Dec. 10, 2021.
117) Joongang Ilbo, Continuous rallies in the city to ‘criticize the quarantine policy,’ ‘Government creates anxiety’ Jan. 8,
2022.
46
Select target paragraph3
Connect to a paragraph
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Add to table of contents