Mapo-gu, Construction of Negative Pressure Automatic Control System and Walk-Through Screening Clinic

Mapo-gu Public Health Center 1st Floor 'Screening Clinic' Opens... 1st Floor, 84.37㎡ Size... First Screening Clinic in Autonomous District with Full Space... Introduces Negative Pressure Automatic Control System and Internal Walking-Through (Pedestrian Mobile) Booth... Rapid and Safe Specimen Collection

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Mapo-gu (Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun) has newly constructed a screening clinic equipped with a negative pressure automatic control system and a walking-through testing booth on the first floor of the Mapo-gu Public Health Center, and began operations including COVID-19 specimen testing from the 11th.

Since 2015, the district has operated a temporary air tent-type screening clinic with negative pressure equipment installed outside the first floor of the health center during outbreaks of respiratory infectious diseases such as MERS.

However, since the launch of the 7th local government administration, Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun, who has strongly emphasized that "administration is not about reacting but preparing in advance," actively promoted the establishment of a permanent screening clinic with specialized facilities to proactively prepare for infectious diseases that could become national disasters and global catastrophes.

To this end, the district selected the site previously used as a bicycle storage area on the first floor of the health center for the new screening clinic equipped with a negative pressure automatic control system, secured a special grant of 550 million won from Seoul City, and began construction on February 11.

Meanwhile, as the COVID-19 infectious disease crisis alert level was raised to "serious" and a global pandemic was declared, the district worked tirelessly on construction for 90 consecutive days and started operating the screening clinic on the 11th.

The Mapo-gu screening clinic was installed in an independent space with separate entrances from the health center building to separate the flow of visitors to the screening clinic and general residents, with a size of 84.37㎡ on the first floor above ground.

The interior consists of an office and reception area responsible for infection control tasks, specimen collection room, waiting room, examination room, transfer waiting room, and X-ray room.

A district official introduced the features of the screening clinic, saying, "It was designed with a dual-track system to clearly separate the paths of visitors and medical staff to minimize infection among medical personnel. It is the first in the autonomous district to have an automatic negative pressure system throughout the entire screening clinic, enabling energy savings as well as real-time monitoring of indoor air conditions."

Along with the "drive-through clinic," the "walking-through" booth, which has been highly praised worldwide, was also introduced in the screening clinic.

The "walking-through" booth is a negative pressure-equipped booth where suspected infectious disease patients enter, and medical staff collect specimens by wearing gloves attached to the window. This method does not require wearing personal protective equipment, reducing medical staff fatigue and significantly shortening the testing time from 20 minutes to 3 minutes, allowing for rapid testing.

The district plans to utilize the entire screening clinic for infectious disease response during crisis situations like the current one, and use it as an infection control center for diagnosing and managing suspected respiratory infectious disease patients such as tuberculosis during normal times.

Yoo Dong-gyun, Mayor of Mapo-gu, said, "With the newly constructed state-of-the-art screening clinic featuring the walking-through method, residents can receive tests more quickly and safely. We will spare no effort to establish a more thorough infectious disease surveillance system and protect the health and safety of our residents through the know-how and experience gained from the current COVID-19 situation."

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