82 Gyeonggi-do Call Centers Under 'Emergency Inspection'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has launched an emergency inspection and strengthened quarantine measures for call centers in the province that could serve as a medium for group infections of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

As of 1 p.m. on the 11th, the province has tentatively identified a total of 82 call centers in the province, including 66 private institutions and 16 public institutions.

The largest private call center with many employees is the G company call center in Bucheon, where about 490 people work. Among public institution call centers, the Gyeonggi Provincial Government call center has the most counselors, with 64 employees working on the second floor of the provincial government civil service office.

Call centers of provincial subsidiaries such as Gyeonggi Urban Innovation Corporation (3 employees), Gyeonggi Job Foundation (9 employees), and Gyeonggi Credit Guarantee Foundation (23 employees) are all operated under consignment, with 3 to a maximum of 23 employees working.

At the frontline city and county level, 12 local governments including Suwon City, Seongnam City, Namyangju City, and Bucheon City operate call centers, managed under direct operation (4 centers), consignment (7 centers), and outsourcing (1 center) systems respectively.

To prevent group infections in high-risk workplaces such as call centers, the province has requested these workplaces to prohibit symptomatic employees from working, and to implement telecommuting, flexible work, and adjustment of seating distances.

In the case of the provincial government call center, starting from the 13th, about 20 employees, accounting for 30% of the total staff, will be relocated to another office to widen the distance between employees in the office and minimize the possibility of infection.

So far, no employees at the provincial government call center have shown suspected symptoms such as fever or cough.

Although it is difficult to wear masks at all times due to the nature of the work, employees are required to wear masks when moving and to strictly maintain personal hygiene.

To this end, starting today, the Fair Trade Bureau Consumer Protection Division and the Special Civilian Affairs Police Unit have begun on-site inspections to check facility disinfection, status surveys, compliance with infection prevention manuals, and hygiene conditions.

A provincial official explained, "We are continuously monitoring the status of call center facilities, so the number of call centers may increase."

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