"To Prevent Even One Confirmed Case..." Gwangjin-gu's Full-Scale Response to Severe COVID-19 Stage

Proactive Measures Including Disinfection and Mask Support for Local Religious Facilities, Sending Cooperation Letters... Direct Pickup and 14-Day Quarantine with 1:1 Monitoring for International Students... Closure of Cultural, Sports, Welfare Facilities and Full Shutdown of Daycare Centers... Announcement of Support Measures to Revitalize the Local Economy Affected by COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) has stepped up to a level 2 plan to prevent community infection as the COVID-19 crisis alert was raised to the highest level, ‘Severe’.

First, the district office, currently operating the Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters situation room 24 hours a day, will be directly overseen by the mayor as the head of the headquarters, strengthening responsibility by function and suspending general medical treatment at public health centers to focus all efforts on COVID-19 prevention and infectious disease response.

◇Request for Cooperation and Disinfection of Religious Facilities

The district provided disinfection and masks to about 160 religious facilities in the area and sent letters twice on February 11 and 20, strongly recommending wearing masks when attending unavoidable indoor religious ceremonies.

Additionally, proactive disinfection and temporary closure measures were taken for Shincheonji facilities, and if suspicious facilities or other matters related to Shincheonji are reported, immediate dispatch will be made to accurately ascertain the facts and take swift action.

◇Direct Airport Pickup and One-on-One Monitoring of Incoming International Students

The district operates shuttle buses from the airport to schools to directly pick up Chinese international students arriving in the area and conducts secondary screening and one-on-one monitoring for 14 days for the arriving students.

Also, in consultation with local universities to prepare dedicated dormitories for international students, Sejong University decided to house all incoming Chinese international students separately in the Saenal-gwan dormitory, and Konkuk University is currently in discussions.

◇Reinforcement of Personnel by Function Including Contact Management and Self-Quarantine

To enable immediate epidemiological investigation and movement tracking upon confirmed cases, the on-site investigation team and contact management team have been expanded, and personnel by function have been reinforced to allow immediate action together with epidemiologists dispatched from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency to the rapid response team.

Also, one-on-one dedicated public officials are assigned to close contacts and self-quarantined individuals, conducting monitoring more than twice a day. A separate self-quarantine team operates to systematically manage support for daily necessities and emergency living expenses for those in self-quarantine.

◇Complete Closure of Cultural, Sports, and Welfare Facilities

The district has established a system to secure disinfection supplies such as masks and hand sanitizers, continuously supporting vulnerable groups such as the elderly and children, as well as public institutions.

Along with this, cultural, sports, and welfare-related facilities are completely closed, losses will be compensated, additional emergency childcare measures will be supplemented, and daycare centers will be temporarily closed.

◇Announcement of Support Measures to Revitalize the Local Economy Weakened by COVID-19

To revive the local commercial district depressed by COVID-19, the district is implementing a detailed support system including ▲356 billion KRW in operating funds for small and medium enterprises and small business owners ▲early execution of 147.1 billion KRW in local finances in the first half of the year ▲priority selection of local companies in private contracts ▲extension of payment deadlines and suspension of tax audits for local taxes ▲monthly closure of district cafeterias 8 to 10 times.

Also, to fundamentally block the possibility of COVID-19 transmission, the use of disposable items has been temporarily permitted at all food service establishments in the area since February 21.

◇Request to Refrain from Events, Volunteer Recruitment, and Public Awareness

Furthermore, through prior consultation, the district requested the suspension and restraint of privately hosted events, recruited volunteers to support infection prevention activities and distribution of promotional materials to supplement insufficient personnel.

In addition, thorough disinfection will be conducted near the residences of confirmed and self-quarantined individuals, and household waste will be disinfected before disposal and processing.

The district promptly informs residents of the current situation in real time through the district website and official SNS, focusing on promoting COVID-19 prevention guidelines as well as behavioral guidelines for self-quarantined individuals and their families.

Kim Seon-gap, Mayor of Gwangjin-gu, said, “We will transparently disclose all information through the website and SNS so that residents can feel safe,” and added, “Residents should not be swayed by unconfirmed information but remain assured and work together wisely to overcome this.”

He continued, “The life and safety of residents are more important than anything else. We will mobilize all district government capabilities to overcome COVID-19 early,” and “We will establish an even more thorough quarantine system so that not a single confirmed case occurs in Gwangjin, with all district office staff putting their utmost effort into this.”

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