Blue House Activates Emergency Response System for COVID-19... "Daily Emergency Response Meetings Held" (Update)

Cheong Wa Dae Panorama / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] As the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) rapidly increases, mainly in Seoul and the metropolitan area, the Blue House announced on the 21st that "in response to the severe COVID-19 situation, an emergency response system will be activated starting today."

Kang Min-seok, the Blue House spokesperson, stated in a written briefing in the afternoon, "The Blue House will hold an emergency COVID-19 response meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary every morning." He also mentioned that until the COVID-19 situation stabilizes, all members of the Secretariat will operate under an emergency duty system.

Once the emergency duty system is in place, the Blue House Crisis Management Center will conduct 24-hour situation monitoring. Additionally, departments related to COVID-19 response will operate night and weekend emergency duty and continuous monitoring systems. Other secretariat offices will also operate under a continuous management system related to COVID-19 according to their respective areas of responsibility.

In the past week, the number of new confirmed cases nationwide, centered on the metropolitan area, has approached a cumulative total of 2,000. In particular, with over 300 new confirmed cases reported just the day before, the quarantine authorities have been put on high alert. Authorities anticipate that the trend from this weekend through next week will be a critical turning point for COVID-19 prevention efforts. The government is also considering raising social distancing to Level 3 if the situation worsens.

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