Park Neung-hoo "Establishment of Living Treatment Centers in Chungcheong Region... Building Shared Use of Hospital Beds"

Presiding over Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting
"Seeking Additional Measures to Address Quarantine Blind Spots at Airports and Ports"

Park Neung-hoo, the 1st Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of Health and Welfare, center), is speaking while presiding over the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on the response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) held on the morning of the 25th at the Government Sejong Complex in Sejong City.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Park Neung-hoo, the first head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said on the 25th, "In response to the recent increase in confirmed cases in the Daejeon area, we will establish a joint bed utilization response system among the Chungcheong region’s cities and provinces, including Daejeon, Sejong, Chungbuk, and Chungnam, and also consider setting up a joint residential treatment center."

Before the meeting that day, Head Park referred to the recent domestic and international situation of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and conveyed this. He said, "The cumulative number of COVID-19 cases worldwide has exceeded 9 million," adding, "New confirmed cases related to door-to-door sales continue to occur in the metropolitan area and Chungcheong region domestically." He noted that the average number of new confirmed cases presumed to be from community transmission has exceeded 30 per day over the past week, and at the same time, the number of patients among those entering the country is also increasing.

To provide timely and appropriate treatment to patients, beds must be secured in advance. Since last month, the metropolitan area, where cases have increased, has been operating residential treatment centers for mild and asymptomatic patients, but other regions do not yet have such centers. Given the steady occurrence of cases and the expectation that this will continue for some time, they plan to prepare in advance.

Along with this, Head Park stated that all vessels arriving from Russia will undergo boarding quarantine, and additional measures will be introduced to cover quarantine blind spots at airports and ports. The meeting also discussed ways to enhance effectiveness by specifying the timing and criteria necessary for applying social distancing measures step-by-step, which have been implemented so far. Head Park said, "Local governments on the front lines have many tasks to perform, including managing self-quarantined individuals, conducting on-site inspections of high-risk facilities, safety management in preparation for heatwaves, and checking risk factors in preparation for the rainy season."

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