Park Won-soon Appeals for Participation in Social Distancing as This Week Marks a Turning Point in 'COVID-19'

Rapid Increase in COVID-19 Cases
Becoming Subjects Not Targeted for Quarantine
Seoul-Type Emergency Welfare Support, etc.
Weekly Monitoring of Health-Vulnerable Groups
Seoul City Also Starts 'Drive-Through' Screening Clinics

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon is greeting attendees by bumping elbows at the Seoul Metropolitan Government-Jachigu Joint Comprehensive Countermeasures Meeting for COVID-19 held at Seoul City Hall on January 29. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunju Lee] On the 2nd, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon proposed participating in a two-week pause as part of 'social distancing' during the regular briefing on the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

Mayor Park said, "The number of confirmed cases, which was 602 on the 23rd of last month, has rapidly increased more than sevenfold to 4,212 as of midnight today," and urged all citizens to actively participate in social distancing, where everyone is not merely a subject of quarantine but a participant in prevention efforts.

Social distancing is a strategy to suppress infection while allowing the city to function normally. Considering the two-week incubation period of COVID-19, experts view early March as a critical turning point for a large-scale outbreak.

Mayor Park emphasized, "If there are companies considering expanding telecommuting and other measures, I ask you to actively participate starting today," and added, "The Seoul Metropolitan Government will actively support any issues arising from an immediate pause through supplementary budgets."

Specifically, the plan includes Seoul-style emergency welfare for households in crisis due to job loss from the COVID-19 spread, living expense support for hospitalized and self-quarantined individuals, and continued safety management through twice-weekly monitoring by welfare planners at local community centers. Additionally, emergency childcare is being provided for children in families where home care is difficult, such as dual-income and single-parent households, with daycare staff attending work as usual.

Mayor Park stated, "We will expand the emergency funds currently supported at a scale of 500 billion won and review new support measures so that small business owners facing difficulties in financial support due to low credit ratings can also receive assistance." He continued, "To encourage the spread of rent reductions, we will provide various incentives such as facility safety and quarantine support alongside government tax benefits for benevolent landlords."

He also said, "We will equip portable disinfection devices at local community centers and merchant associations to support small business owners in easily conducting disinfection at any time," and added, "Even if a situation equivalent to a pandemic occurs, we will ensure that essential urban functions such as water purification, sewage treatment, urban railways, roads, and waste disposal never stop."

Mayor Park said, "In a democratic society, there is no way to forcibly control all movement comprehensively, but we ask citizens to voluntarily refrain from gatherings and communicate online," and added, "There is no city better than Seoul in the smart city sector."

At the briefing, Kim Ki-moon, Chairman of the Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, said, "We ask small and medium enterprises to actively participate," and added, "We will try to find ways to prevent infection in places like local markets or workplaces where telecommuting is not possible."

Hong Sung-jin, Vice President of the Seoul Medical Association, explained, "These guidelines are the actual implementation of the measures announced last weekend by the Korean Medical Association and the joint academic task force."

Below are the two-week pause practice guidelines announced by Mayor Park. First, refrain from going out and postpone meetings to reduce encounters with others. Second, communicate with acquaintances by phone, internet, and social network services (SNS), keeping physical distance but emotional closeness. Third, always and everywhere wear masks and wash hands to maintain personal hygiene rules.

Meanwhile, Seoul City will fully operate drive-thru vehicle mobile screening clinics and expand the number of health center screening clinics capable of specimen collection from 30 to 50 locations. On the 3rd, clinics will open at Eunpyeong Hospital, Fire Academy, and Jamsil Main Stadium parking lot, and on the 4th, operation will begin at Ewha Seoul Hospital.

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