The government’s joint inspection team for checking social distancing measures caught a karaoke bar in Gyeonggi Province that received customers through an online prebooking system on Dec. 22. The bar had turned off its outside signboards and closed the doors. The inspection team went undercover near the bar and spotted customers walking out at around 11 p.m.

This was one of 54 cases of violation of quarantine measures identified so far.

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety on Tuesday released the progress of the joint inspection team, which had taken up the field mission to enforce social distancing measures since Dec. 18.

Nine cases of violations of quarantine measures had been handed over to police as of Monday, including karaoke rooms operating after 9 p.m., an indoor sports facility opening its doors and a bar and a restaurant failing to maintain their lists of visitors.

There were 44 cases resulting in fines. Restaurants and cafes operated after 9 p.m. Churches had offline religious services with more than 20 people at the same time in one place. Private tutoring institutions were also caught for not complying with social distancing measures.

In Greater Seoul there were also cases of neglecting the ban on gatherings of five or more people.

As the period of the special quarantine measures was extended through Jan. 17, the Interior Ministry plans to continue the operation of the joint inspection team until then.

The inspection team looks to carry out what they call the “one strike you’re out” policy, and take legal actions during the checkup instead of simply correcting problems on site.

The ministry also called for more precise and larger inspections of nursing facilities and prisons, as they had been at the center of cluster transmissions in recent days.

“It is a crucial moment to curb the spread of the coronavirus,” said Interior Minister Jeon Hae-cheol. “Use the administrative power to focus on quickly taking control of the situation with thorough on-site inspections and promotions.”

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)