[Yonhap Photo]
SEOUL -- A smart wrist band will be used to monitor those who violate self-quarantine rules. Health officials will be alerted to track them quickly if the wearer moves out of his or her designated quarantine area. The bands interact with a GPS-based self-quarantine app installed on smartphones to check the location of wearers.
South Korea's national disaster control center said Friday that it would monitor and manage violators of self-quarantine requirements by tagging them with smart wrist bands from April 27. From April 1, South Korea enforced a two-week mandatory quarantine for all entrants from overseas.
Currently, there are about 45,000 people staying at homes and designated facilities for self-quarantine with about 64,000 local government workers monitoring them. Health officials have detected 272 violators, including an unspecified number of foreigners who were deported for violating rules.
Those who break quarantine rules can receive a fine of up to 10 million won ($8,090) or a jail sentence of up to 12 months. However, South Korea has been relatively lenient to quarantine rule violators, with law enforcement authorities and health officials refraining from legal action in individual cases.
If people are caught violating self-quarantine rules during a government check-up, smart wrist bands will be used on their consent. If they refuse, violators will be moved to state-designated facilities and pay for accommodation and necessities.
Similar wrist bands are used in other countries such as Hong Kong and the United States. South Korean health officials said they would increase the number of daily check-up phone calls and the number of random on-site inspections.
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
