Gwangju City Completes New Health and Environment Research Institute Building for 'Emerging Infectious Disease Response'

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] Gwangju Metropolitan City announced on the 15th that the new Health and Environment Research Institute building has been completed and is ready for relocation.

The new Health and Environment Research Institute building was constructed at a cost of approximately 30 billion KRW from the city budget, starting in January 2019. The facility has a total floor area of about 11,087㎡, consisting of one basement floor and four above-ground floors.

The new building houses the Infectious Disease Research Building and Environmental Research Building, as well as the Animal Hygiene Testing Laboratory, equipped with specialized laboratories and research rooms for responding to emerging infectious diseases such as COVID-19.

The Biosafety Laboratory (BL-3), an essential facility for testing high-risk pathogens that prevents external release and protects laboratory personnel, was also completed in July and is ready for relocation.

The previous office, located in Hwajeong-dong, Seo-gu, was situated in a residential area, leading to ongoing complaints about noise and odor. Accordingly, Gwangju City planned to relocate the office using the site of the former sewage treatment plant in Yuchon-dong, Seo-gu.

Oh Gyu-hwan, Director of the General Construction Headquarters, stated, “With this relocation, we will be able to respond to various emerging infectious diseases such as SARS, MERS, and COVID-19,” adding, “We hope that rapid and accurate testing will alleviate the anxiety of citizens currently struggling with COVID-19.”

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