Nowon-gu Activates 'Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters' for Novel Coronavirus

Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Formed with 8 Teams, 24-Hour Emergency Contact System Maintained... Active Monitors Matched 1:1 for 14 Days of Monitoring Upon Incident... Major Public Facilities in the Area Temporarily Closed from February 1, Jeongwol Daeboreum Events Canceled

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Nowon-gu (District Mayor Oh Seung-rok) has activated the ‘Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters’ to prevent the inflow and spread of novel coronavirus infection patients within the district.

The countermeasures headquarters, led by the district mayor as the head, is composed of eight teams including the Emergency Quarantine Task Force, maintaining a 24-hour emergency contact system. In case of an incident, active monitoring persons are matched 1:1 and monitored for 14 days from the last contact date to prepare for any emergency situation.

Currently, a ‘screening clinic’ equipped with personal protective equipment and negative pressure facilities is operating in front of the district health center. When a suspected patient occurs, patient treatment, specimen collection, and epidemiological investigations are conducted here.

A thermal imaging camera has also been installed at the entrance of the health center. Citizens with fever symptoms detected through the thermal imaging camera installed at the entrance are immediately guided to the screening clinic. In case of patient occurrence, the screening system for emergency room visitors has been strengthened in cooperation with Seoul Medical Center, the regional emergency medical center.

Major public facilities in Nowon-gu, such as community centers’ autonomous halls, libraries, and sports centers, will be temporarily closed from February 1 until further notice. The Jeongwol Daeboreum festival and the district New Year’s gathering scheduled for February have also been canceled.

About 500 bottles of hand sanitizer and 30,000 masks were distributed to related institutions such as community centers, senior citizen centers, and daycare centers, which are heavily used by residents. Hand sanitizers and masks were also provided to field workers such as temporary workers to ensure safe working conditions.

Public relations efforts have been strengthened. Ten thousand leaflets containing prevention guidelines for novel coronavirus infection were distributed to places where residents gather in large numbers, such as community centers, libraries, and welfare centers, and banners were posted throughout the district.

Through the district office website and SNS, ‘Novel Coronavirus Infection Behavioral Guidelines’ such as hand washing, cough etiquette, and wearing masks when having respiratory symptoms are continuously promoted.

Residents are guided to report to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency call center (☎1339) or the health center (☎2116-4344) if they have respiratory symptoms. Text messages containing emergency phone numbers and prevention guidelines were sent to residents to prevent infection.

The district is particularly strengthening management of about 2,800 elderly living alone. Elderly living alone have difficulty accessing information as they live by themselves. Nowon-gu Elderly Care Center life managers visit the homes of elderly living alone to deliver precautions and check for any health abnormalities.

District Mayor Oh Seung-rok stated, “Preemptive response and residents’ cooperation are important to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” and added, “We will mobilize all administrative power to prevent inflow and spread within the district.”

Public Health Division 2116-4344

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.