This photo, taken on June 30, 2020, shows parasols set up at a distance from one another at a beach in South Korea’s southeastern port city of Busan in the run-up to its opening to the public. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) – As the coronavirus outbreak continues to spread throughout the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area, almost all major beaches in South Korea are expected to open next month.
The government and local authorities in charge of the beaches are scrambling to come up with ideas for quarantine at the beach.
Gangwon Province’s Gyeongpo and Jeongdongjin beaches, which are expected to open next month, will allow beachgoers to enter only after having their temperature checked, and everyone will have to wear a special wristband to confirm that they do not have a fever.
All beach visitors will also be required to scan a QR code and manually fill in a separate entry list every time they use a nearby shower room, bathroom, and other convenience facilities.
The city plans to hire subcontractors and volunteer groups to disinfect all areas at the beach more than three times every day until the beaches are closed.
The city of Incheon plans to impose limits on the number of parasols, tents, and shade canopies set up throughout nine of its beaches as part of its quarantine efforts.
Visitors will have to complete on-site registration before they are allowed to set up parasols two meters away from each other.
Gangwon Province’s Sokcho Beach plans to set up gate-shaped disinfectors at seven locations next month to automatically spray disinfectant on all visitors detected by a special sensor.
Since the disinfectors use an ultrasonic spraying technique, the disinfectant will not wet the visitor’s clothes or skin. Following the spray, a secondary disinfection will be carried out using a UV lamp.
Jeju Island plans to require all visitors using fitting rooms and swimming pools at its beaches to fill out a visitation log.
“If one of the visitors gets infected by the coronavirus, the beach will be shut down temporarily,” local authorities said. “The beach will be closed permanently if infection risks are deemed high.”
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
