‘Slowing COVID-19’... Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungnam Tighten Quarantine Measures Again

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Local governments in the Chungcheong region are tightening their grip to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Although the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has noticeably decreased recently by region, this reflects their intention to guard against a resurgence of COVID-19 amid a potentially lax atmosphere.

According to local governments in Daejeon, Sejong, and Chungnam on the 17th, Daejeon has not reported any new COVID-19 cases since the 5th. As of the previous day, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in Daejeon remains at 39, holding steady for 12 consecutive days. Sejong has maintained a cumulative total of 46 confirmed cases for 20 days since the 28th of last month, and Chungnam has kept a cumulative total of 139 confirmed cases for 6 days since the 11th, showing signs of a slowdown in the spread of COVID-19.

However, the common view among local governments is that the current slowdown in COVID-19 spread does not mean the infectious disease threat has ended. Above all, with the government-led social distancing campaign scheduled to end on the 19th, there is underlying caution that crowds gathering at regional tourist attractions during spring and increased gatherings at religious facilities and other venues could lead to new infection routes emerging anytime and anywhere.

For example, Singapore, which was once praised as a ‘model country for quarantine’ due to its initial successful response, experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases exceeding 2,000 after school reopened on the 23rd of last month due to cluster infections. Similarly, in South Korea, as elementary, middle, and high schools reopen sequentially and small business owners and self-employed individuals resume operations, the risk of COVID-19 spread remains, a shared perception among Chungcheong region local governments.

Accordingly, local governments plan to tighten their efforts to prevent the spread of COVID-19 until the final phase of the government’s social distancing campaign, focusing on ensuring that the number of confirmed cases does not increase further by region.

First, Sejong City plans to conduct COVID-19 infection tests (mainly for symptomatic individuals) on the 7th (first test) and 14th (second test) days after patients have been released from isolation following recovery, to prevent the spread of infectious diseases within the community through re-positive cases.

Additionally, management procedures for overseas arrivals will be strengthened. Prior to the government’s directive for universal testing of arrivals from the United States, the city had already been conducting its own universal testing of asymptomatic overseas arrivals since the 1st of this month, who were not subject to airport quarantine testing. Furthermore, 110 public officials are each responsible for monitoring 1 to 4 overseas arrivals under self-quarantine (a total of 394 people), conducting random inspections to maintain ongoing management, according to the city’s explanation.

Chungnam Province is also continuing measures such as strengthening management of overseas arrivals, checking compliance with COVID-19 quarantine rules, and imposing penalties for violations. Currently, domestic arrivals from Europe and the United States are required to undergo mandatory diagnostic testing within three days. To block the source of infection from overseas arrivals, open screening clinics have recently been established and operated at the Cheonan and Asan KTX stations to test overseas arrivals entering through these points.

In particular, based on the achievement of conducting approximately 70,000 inspections at 14,558 facilities including social welfare facilities, public sports facilities, and cultural tourism facilities within the province, issuing 3,814 administrative guidance notices and 4 administrative penalties for violations of quarantine rules, the province plans to continue inspections to ensure compliance with quarantine rules at various facilities.

Daejeon City is focusing on inspecting compliance with social distancing measures at entertainment facilities such as emotional pubs located in Dunsan-dong, Seo-gu. The concentrated inspection of entertainment facilities centered on emotional pubs is a measure reflecting concerns over cluster infections in entertainment venues following confirmed COVID-19 cases at large entertainment facilities in Gangnam, Seoul.

The city has currently formed five teams (totaling over 20 people) jointly with Seo-gu Office and Daejeon Metropolitan Police Agency, deploying them on-site and conducting continuous monitoring until 3 a.m. daily.

Yang Seung-jo, Governor of Chungnam Province, said, “The high-intensity social distancing campaign has borne fruit, achieving visible results such as a decrease in confirmed cases,” but added, “However, since we do not know when or where COVID-19 might spread again, we cannot let our guard down in infectious disease prevention and control activities.”

He also stated, “Even after the high-intensity social distancing campaign ends, the province will make every effort to prepare so that social distancing in daily life can continue while maintaining social and economic activities.”

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