No mask, no ride in Seoul taxis as virus spreads

All News 14:37 August 25, 2020

SEOUL, Aug. 25 (Yonhap) -- Passengers without face masks will not be allowed in taxis in Seoul, the government announced Tuesday, as part of measures aimed at increasing safety in the greater Seoul area amid a resurgence in COVID-19 cases.

"Seoul plans to tighten quarantine measures at public transportation and logistics facilities," Yoon Tae-ho, a senior health official, said in a daily press briefing.

"(Taxi drivers) will be required to refuse rides for people without masks, and strong measures will also be taken for drivers not wearing masks," Yoon said, adding that officials will run special inspections in subways and increase disinfections of buses.

As part of the measure, the Seoul city government will ban several people using the same work outfit or vests at logistics facilities, according to Yoon.

Passengers on a bus passing through central Seoul wear face masks on Aug. 25, 2020. (Yonhap)

In Incheon, the quarantine will be tightened at ferry terminals and docks.

Yoon said officials plan to run fever checks and make those with fevers wear wristbands, while increasing notifications on wearing masks on ships and inside terminals.

Seats on ferries will be arranged in zigzag patterns to minimize contact among passengers, Yoon added.

The measures come amid a spike in new virus cases in the greater Seoul area.

South Korea reported 280 new virus cases, including 264 local infections Tuesday, raising the total caseload to 17,945, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A customer passes by a notice on wearing masks at a cafe in Seoul on Aug. 24, 2020. The Seoul city government has mandated face masks starting Aug. 25. (Yonhap)

Daily cases have been in the triple digits since the country reported 103 new cases on Aug. 14, spiking at 397 on Sunday, the most since March 7 when the country reported 483 new cases.

Cases that broke out in the past 12 days alone have reached 3,175 cases, with a majority of them occurring in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon.