SEOUL TO STRENGTHEN SAFETY MEASURES

[Anchor Lead]

The Seoul metropolitan government plans to strengthen its disease control measures ahead of Halloween on coming Saturday. Government employees will be sent to clubs and bars from October 29th through 31st.

[Pkg]

This club in Itaewon will close until this weekend.

[Soundbite] (ITAEWON ○○ CLUB EMPLOYEE(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "We don't plan to open from Thursday to Sunday. I think it's the right thing to do."

Every Halloween, roughly 100,000 people from all across the country gather in the Itaewon area. It is practically impossible for customers to distance themselves in fully packed clubs.

[Soundbite] (ITAEWON ○○ CLUB EMPLOYEE(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "We are in a financial strait. It's hard to follow all the disease control measures to run the club."

Restaurants in Itaewon suffered tremendous financial setbacks during a rapid COVID-19 spread among the clubs in the area in May. Restaurant owners in the area have both high hopes and deep concerns for the Halloween weekend.

[Soundbite] (RESTAURANT EMPLOYEE(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "We get only one or two groups for dinner and no customers at all for lunch. I worry about slow business, but having too many customers can also raise concerns."

The government's disease control measures will be toughened considerably ahead of the Halloween celebrations fraught with infection risks. Quarantine gates will be set up at the streets packed with clubs to check customers' QR codes and temperatures. The Korea Food and Drug Administration and the police plan to inspect the entertainment facility clusters in Yongsan, Mapo, Gangnam, Gwangjin and Gangbuk districts. Two public employees will be assigned to each of some 100 clubs and bars in Seoul for three days. Capacity will be limited to one customer per four square meters. An establishment with even a single disease control measure violation will need to close down.

[Soundbite] PARK YU-MI(SEOUL GOVERNMENT QUARANTINE OFFICER) : "The "One Strike Rule" will be applied to violators. They will be slapped with assembly bans for two weeks, starting the very next day."

Health authorities and owners of these establishments are discussing ways to temporarily close clubs and bars this weekend.