Gangnam-gu, First Basic Local Government to Surpass 20,000 COVID-19 Specimen Tests

Seoul Accounts for 12% of Total Cases... Surpassing Metropolitan Areas like Jeonnam, Jeonbuk, Gwangju, Ulsan, and Daejeon

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jung Soon-gyun) surpassed 20,000 COVID-19 test samples on May 25, just one month after reaching 10,000 tests on April 19.

As of the 25th, Gangnam-gu has conducted 20,094 tests, the highest number among 226 local governments nationwide. This exceeds the testing numbers of metropolitan cities such as Gwangju, Ulsan, Daejeon, Sejong Special Self-Governing City, as well as Jeju Province, Jeollanam-do, and Jeollabuk-do. It accounts for 12% of the total 168,055 tests conducted across Seoul.

This result comes from Gangnam-gu’s emergency work system initiated on January 26, after it was revealed that the country’s third confirmed COVID-19 patient had visited Gangnam-gu. Following the infectious disease response principle that "early diagnosis is the best prevention," the district has proactively conducted tests regardless of symptoms to prevent so-called "silent transmission," where many people are infected while asymptomatic.

Since the first confirmed case in the district on February 26, Gangnam-gu has conducted tests on all residents of the same apartment complex, single-family home residents, and office workers regardless of symptoms, effectively blocking the spread of community infection.

Additionally, since last month, Gangnam-gu has operated a "one-stop service" where all overseas arrivals are transported by limousine bus from Incheon Airport to the Gangnam-gu Public Health Center for testing, then transferred by ambulance to their residences. Through dual testing before and after self-quarantine, 41 confirmed cases were identified among 5,762 arrivals.

From the 7th, Gangnam-gu conducted tests on 3,584 visitors and contacts related to the Itaewon clubs regardless of their residence, identifying 7 confirmed cases early.

Furthermore, Gangnam-gu is doing its best to block community infection by conducting random sampling tests on vulnerable groups who find it difficult to visit screening clinics, including elderly and staff at nursing homes and daycare centers, foreign workers at construction sites, and other vulnerable residents.

Jung Soon-gyun, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, said, “Gangnam-gu, like New York in the United States, has the highest population density nationwide and a large number of economically active and floating populations. Although 72 confirmed cases have emerged, under the infectious disease response principle of ‘early detection and early containment,’ proactive measures have been taken, and there have been no locally transmitted cases within the district so far. Moving forward, we will prepare for the ‘post-COVID’ era by establishing a ‘non-face-to-face administrative system’ and ‘economic revitalization measures’ based on thorough testing and quarantine.”

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