Seocho-gu Takes Proactive Support Measures to Create a Safe Emergency Childcare Environment

Providing trust with 'Reliable Emergency Childcare' through notices to anxious parents... Offering meals to boost immunity and setting infection prevention rules, strengthened management with daily monitoring... Supporting Seocho-type Model Childcare Centers with equipment and improving childcare teacher treatment considering field difficulties

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seocho-gu (Mayor Jo Eun-hee) is proactively taking the lead in creating a ‘safe and trustworthy emergency childcare environment’ by actively supporting emergency childcare at daycare centers and emergency care at home due to the prolonged closure of daycare centers amid the spread of COVID-19.

Prior to the announcement of daycare center closures by Seoul City and the government, Seocho-gu had already issued a closure order for all daycare centers for 14 days from February 22 to March 6.

This decision was made on February 21 when the first confirmed COVID-19 case occurred in the area, judging that normal childcare at daycare centers would be difficult. It was a self-judgment by the district prioritizing ‘resident safety’ above all.

Seoul City, after raising the COVID-19 crisis level to ‘serious’ on February 23, belatedly ordered the closure of daycare centers in the area starting February 25. Subsequently, the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued a nationwide closure order for daycare centers including Seoul on February 27.

The extension of the closure was also made promptly. As COVID-19 continued to spread without subsiding, parents’ anxiety persisted.

In response, Seocho-gu once again took a proactive step by extending the closure until March 22, followed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s extension.

Additionally, the district sent notices about ‘emergency childcare operations’ to parents, who were most anxious due to the sudden childcare gap, through daycare center bulletin boards and Kids Note.

Childcare staff reported to work normally and conducted emergency childcare, informing parents that they were making thorough efforts to prevent virus infection by minimizing contact between children, prohibiting outsiders from entering daycare centers, checking the temperature of children and staff upon entry, enforcing strict hand sanitizing and washing, and conducting self-disinfection of daycare centers on weekday evenings and weekends.

Nutrition menus to strengthen immunity have also been enhanced, providing one meal and two snacks daily. During meals, children sit in a row to prevent infection.

Furthermore, the district supports quarantine supplies such as masks, hand sanitizers, and cleansing agents, and prepares for COVID-19 infection occurrences within daycare centers through meticulous daily monitoring once a day.

To ensure ‘trustworthy emergency childcare,’ the district actively listens to and supports not only the children but also the daycare centers and childcare teachers on site.

Support is also expanded for Seocho-type model daycare centers that face a shortage of enrolled children due to the extended home childcare period. Among the 41 Seocho-type model daycare centers certified by Seocho-gu for excellent childcare environment and facilities, those with an enrollment rate below 80% receive a subsidy of 20,000 KRW per enrolled child for the shortfall.

Moreover, the reason for certification cancellation due to insufficient enrollment will be relaxed until the COVID-19 situation ends. A treatment improvement plan has also been prepared for childcare teachers, who could be someone’s mother, by treating staff leave during the closure period as paid leave under certain conditions, including the closure period as working days, and providing allowances.

In addition, as home childcare increases, the district also provides ‘three-piece quarantine supply pouches for child caregivers’ to families using the child care service, striving to create a safe childcare environment. All 230 child caregivers were urgently supplied with portable pouches containing three quarantine items (mask, thermometer, hand sanitizer). Child caregivers conduct pre-self-checks such as temperature measurement, hand sanitizer use, and mask wearing, and only care for children if no abnormalities are found. Safety rules at care sites have been strengthened, and caregivers wear ‘safety badges.’

Jo Eun-hee, Mayor of Seocho-gu, said, “We will carefully listen to the voices of childcare sites and various voices of parents and do our best to create a trustworthy emergency childcare environment where our children can be safely cared for.”

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