Lee Jae-myeong Issues Administrative Order Banning Gatherings at Bucheon Coupang Logistics Center for 2 Weeks

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park Noh-hoon] Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myeong issued an administrative order banning gatherings for two weeks starting from the 28th at Coupang's Fresh Logistics Center Plant 2 in Bucheon, where COVID-19 community transmission is spreading. This is the first time Gyeonggi Province has issued a gathering ban order to a private company.

Governor Lee held an emergency press conference at Gyeonggi Provincial Government on the 28th and stated, "As of 10 a.m. today, 86 confirmed cases of cluster infection have been confirmed nationwide, including 31 from Gyeonggi Province, at the Coupang logistics center located in Bucheon, and there is a high possibility that the number of confirmed cases will increase significantly according to the results of a full investigation."

The province plans to deliver an administrative disposition document containing this content to Coupang Logistics Center on the same day, and if the administrative order is violated, penalties including fines of up to 3 million won may be imposed in accordance with Article 80, Clause 7 of the 'Infectious Disease Prevention and Management Act'.

Coupang's Bucheon Fresh Logistics Center Plant 2 is a seven-story facility located on Shinheung-ro in Bucheon. The province is conducting a full investigation on 4,156 people including workers and visitors at this facility, and has completed testing on 3,463 people (83.3%) to date. The province plans to promptly proceed with full investigation of additional delivery personnel as their lists are obtained.
This administrative order was issued based on the determination that there is a risk of infection, as numerous confirmed cases have occurred at the Coupang logistics center and viruses have been detected in environmental samples within the facility.

Governor Lee stated on the day, "There is regret in that the spread of infection could have been minimized if quarantine rules had been strictly followed or accurate and rapid measures had been taken after confirmed cases occurred," explaining the background for the administrative order.
There were many reports questioning whether quarantine rules were thoroughly followed before confirmed cases occurred, and after confirmed cases were identified, hundreds of related people were left exposed to risk for an extended period, and the provision of delivery staff lists necessary for epidemiological investigation was significantly delayed, prompting Gyeonggi Province's special prosecution team to conduct a forced investigation, according to the governor's explanation.

Governor Lee stated, "Many of those working at Coupang logistics centers are ultra-short-term workers doing multiple jobs and platform workers in unstable labor environments," and "My heart aches thinking that these people, who are driven to work sites at the risk of infection, will be hit in their livelihoods due to the gathering ban. I also regret that constraints are being placed on business activities."
He continued, "We have refrained from imposing complete shutdown measures on general business activities to achieve harmony between economy and quarantine, but we cannot rule out situations where we may have no choice but to impose closure measures on overall business operations in the worst case," and emphasized, "The gathering ban order for specific business operations is an inevitable measure to avoid the worst-case scenario of complete shutdown, and if necessary, we may have no choice but to implement it anytime and anywhere."
He also stated, "Sample testing may become necessary in business operations to prevent infection and transmission," and "To detect infections early and prevent spread, we will provide pooling test budgets to companies that wish to conduct random sample testing."

Pooling testing differs from the conventional method of testing one person's sample at a time by mixing and testing samples from 5 to 10 people at once. It has the advantage of being about 50% faster on average in diagnostic speed compared to conventional individual testing.