In accordance with the government's stricter distancing policy from the 18th, unvaccinated persons who have not completed vaccination can use restaurants or cafes alone, or only take-out or delivery.



However, exceptions are made for non-vaccinated persons who bring PCR negative confirmation within 48 hours, adolescents under 18 years of age, and those who have recovered from COVID-19.



Violation of this rule may result in a fine of 100,000 won for users and 1.5 million won for business owners according to the Infectious Disease Prevention Act.



However, it is controversial because some restaurants refuse to 'eat alone' for non-vaccinated people or do not allow entry even if they present a negative confirmation letter.



Due to the complicated regulations regarding the quarantine pass, there are situations in which restaurant and cafe owners do not accept customers who have not been vaccinated at all.



Son Young-rae, head of the social strategy division of the Central Accident Remediation Headquarters, said, "It's the first time I've heard of a related question at an online briefing of the reporters on the 20th. not," he said.



Some Internet sites and SNS accounts even share a list of businesses that refused to eat alone for unvaccinated people, but it seems that the quarantine authorities did not properly understand the related issues.



When asked if fines could be imposed on businesses that refused to enter because they misunderstood quarantine rules, Director Son Young-rae said, "Currently, the imposition of fines for quarantine passes corresponds to a case where a large number of unvaccinated people who do not possess a PCR-negative certificate come in." It is impossible to impose a fine for negligence under the current regulations in case one unvaccinated person is prohibited from entering."



Regarding whether non-vaccinated persons can get help from local governments or quarantine agencies when they are denied access to multi-use facilities, they said, "In this case, it is not an infectious disease prevention method, but a part of the consumer protection regulations or discrimination. We will also investigate to see if it can be dealt with,” explained Sohn.



(Photo = Yonhap News)