'Corona Ironclad Defense' Incheon City... Public Officials Assigned 1-on-1 to Residential Facilities

Strengthening Safe and Focused Medical Systems and Supporting Citizen Psychological Treatment
Promoting 'Good Rent' Expansion and Increasing Local Currency Cashback to 10% to Revitalize Commercial Districts

Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun is visiting Incheon Medical Center, a specialized hospital dedicated to infectious diseases, to inspect the discharge site for hospitalized patients in preparation for the spread of COVID-19.
[Photo by Incheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] As the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continues to spread mainly in the metropolitan area, Incheon City is taking a strong defensive stance by implementing one-on-one close monitoring by public officials, strengthening safe and intensive medical systems, while focusing administrative efforts on psychological support for citizens living in anxiety and revitalizing the depressed commercial districts.

As of the morning of the 13th, a total of 27 confirmed cases have been reported in Incheon. However, 17 of these are confirmed cases related to the Guro-gu call center cluster infection, and most of the others are understood to have been infected at workplaces in Seoul or have a history of visiting Daegu.

Considering the geographical characteristics of being adjacent to airports and ports, which made the virus highly likely to enter the Incheon area, this is a very encouraging situation. In fact, at the beginning of this month, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Incheon was 9, with an incidence rate of 0.3 per 100,000 population, the lowest nationwide.

This is analyzed to be effective because, given the frequent entry and exit of both domestic and foreign nationals, the city assumed the infectious disease crisis alert level as 'serious' ahead of the government and prepared proactive quarantine and medical systems in cooperation with related organizations.

However, the city remains vigilant as there is growing concern about community infections through call centers and group living facilities.

To efficiently treat severe confirmed patients and block community spread, the city has suspended the screening clinic functions of three medical institutions operating nationally designated inpatient treatment beds?Incheon Medical Center, Gil Hospital, and Inha University Hospital?to focus on treating confirmed patients.

Instead, two drive-thru safe clinics, which provide testing within 10 minutes and pose no infection risk, have been expanded, operating a total of 29 screening clinics. Additionally, living treatment centers for mild patients have been established by military and district, and 18 public safe hospitals for general patients are in operation.

Furthermore, for a total of 540 living facilities and medical institutions for high-risk groups such as the elderly and disabled, who are vulnerable to group infections due to weakened immunity, the city is implementing a one-on-one close monitoring system by public officials equivalent to cohort isolation for two weeks to strengthen on-site monitoring.

One dedicated public official is assigned to each facility to conduct monitoring twice daily, in the morning and afternoon, targeting residents and workers on-site. If suspicious symptoms are detected, isolation in a single room and COVID-19 testing will be arranged.

Along with this, as part of enhanced safe protection measures for these facilities, the city plans to designate day and night management supervisors for each facility, operate exclusive vehicles for workers’ commuting to prevent virus spread, implement a two-week safe room waiting system (isolation rooms) for new facility admissions, facilitate pre-information exchange through KakaoTalk chat rooms between health centers and facilities, and prepare emergency response measures.

Mayor Park Namchun stated, "In facilities with many residents and group living, even one infection can lead to significant damage and make it difficult to trace transmission routes. As a preemptive measure to prevent this, we are implementing a close monitoring system by public officials. We will do our best to prevent additional confirmed cases in the region through close management equivalent to preventive cohort isolation."

Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun visited the 120 Michuhol Call Center at Michuhol Tower in Yeonsu-gu to encourage employees and inspect the working environment.
[Photo by Incheon City]

Meanwhile, Incheon City is strengthening psychological support services as citizens’ perception of fear regarding COVID-19 is high.

The psychological support team, which had been organized with 88 members in 22 teams across the city, 10 districts/counties, and 11 metropolitan/basic mental health welfare centers, has been expanded to 114 members in 34 teams to help resolve psychological issues such as anxiety, depression, and stress among self-quarantined individuals and citizens. Psychological support for hospital-confirmed patients, previously linked to the National Trauma Center, will now be coordinated with infectious disease isolation bed-operating hospitals and specialists from the Korean Neuropsychiatric Association.

In addition, to support small business owners and self-employed individuals suffering economic hardships such as sharp sales declines, a public-private consultative body has been formed to promote the 'Good Rent' campaign.

As of the 12th, 409 stores in 24 traditional markets and shopping districts have joined, agreeing to reduce rent by 20-30% until the COVID-19 situation ends. The city is consulting with central government agencies on local tax reduction measures, expecting the 'Good Rent' campaign to spread further.

To stimulate consumption, the cashback rate of the local currency 'Incheon e-eum' has been raised from 4% to 10% for March and April. Some districts, such as Yeonsu-gu, offer additional cashback for using affiliated stores under their jurisdiction, providing up to 19% cashback.

The city, operating the 'Novel Coronavirus Response Economic Countermeasures Team,' is focusing on assessing damage, receiving suggestions, and providing emergency funding support in five areas: small businesses, SMEs and local exports, local tourism (festivals and performances), price stabilization and agricultural/livestock product distribution, and proposals to the central government.

In particular, to support small business loans, the city secured an additional 45 billion KRW in management stabilization funds following 34.8 billion KRW last month, providing urgent financial aid.

An Incheon city official said, "As the ban on travel to China has eased and the local economy was regaining vitality, the COVID-19 impact has caused another downturn. With 940,000 subscribers, Incheon e-eum has proven effective in stimulating consumption and increasing small business sales, so we expect that the dramatic cashback increase will help revive the sluggish economy."

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