Jeonbuk Province Extends Indefinite Closure of Social Welfare Facilities and Institutions

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Jeonbuk Province announced on the 2nd that it has decided to indefinitely extend the closure and suspension of social welfare facilities in the province to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and ensure the safety of vulnerable groups.

This extension is a measure taken because, despite the implementation of a two-week high-intensity social distancing to block COVID-19 infections, small-scale group infections continue in other regions, and new confirmed cases are occurring mainly among overseas entrants, making it difficult to guarantee the safety of infants, children, elderly, and disabled persons who mainly use social welfare facilities.

With the extension of the closure and suspension of social welfare facilities, Jeonbuk Province plans to continuously promote emergency care to address the care gap for dual-income families with children using daycare centers and community child centers, and extend meal support for children at risk of missing meals due to school delays.

Also, as new COVID-19 confirmed cases in the province occur mainly among overseas entrants and those coming from other regions, facility workers and users who have come into contact with them have been instructed to be excluded from work and stop using the facilities for two weeks, and they have been asked to refrain from contact with outsiders by staying at home after work.

Furthermore, new entrants to the facilities are required to undergo active monitoring in a separate quarantine space for two weeks before living with existing residents, and external access to the facilities has been further restricted to thoroughly prevent the external inflow of COVID-19.

Gu Hyeong-bo, Director of Welfare, Women, and Health Bureau of Jeonbuk Province, said, “Each social welfare facility is assigned one responsible public official who conducts daily monitoring, maintaining vigilance in facility quarantine,” and added, “We will do our best to prevent infectious diseases and their spread among vulnerable groups.”

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