Angry Public Officials Sacrifice Weekends and Holidays Amid COVID-19... Busan Gijang-gun Section Chiefs and Above Enter Emergency Duty

"No Holidays in War" Senior Officials Including Military and Deputy Governors Enter COVID-19 Emergency Duty... Voluntary Holiday Pay 'NO'

On the morning of the 29th at 9 a.m., a 'COVID-19 Emergency Response Situation Briefing' was held at the Cha Seong Art Hall of Busan Gijang County Office, which has a capacity of 380 seats, presided over by the county governor with all senior officials in attendance. From that day, all senior officials at the level of section chief or higher in Gijang County began emergency duty, giving up weekends and holidays.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Public officials at the level of section chief and above in Busan’s Gijang-gun have begun emergency duty without any holidays. It is unprecedented for all senior officials of a local government to give up their holidays.

As the third wave of COVID-19 intensified, Gijang-gun held an emergency meeting on Sunday the 29th at 9 a.m. called the ‘COVID-19 Emergency Response Situation Report Meeting.’ All public officials at the section chief level and above resolved to come to work on weekends and public holidays until the COVID-19 situation stabilizes, conducting on-site inspections and administrative guidance activities.

They all volunteered to work without receiving holiday work allowances.

The county governor, vice governor, directors, and senior officials at the section chief level and above in Gijang-gun took the lead in coming to work normally without holidays and entering the COVID-19 emergency duty system.

They visit key management facilities, general management facilities, and religious facilities daily to personally distribute hand sanitizers, visitor logs, and leaflets outlining quarantine guidelines, while simultaneously conducting on-site inspections and guidance to ensure compliance with quarantine rules.

Disinfection management of public offices, the frontline of COVID-19 prevention, will also be strengthened. Intensive disinfection will be carried out at the county office, eup/myeon offices, and health centers, and visitor logs at these offices will be managed more strictly.

The Gijang-gun Infectious Disease Prevention Team and the five eup/myeon Infectious Disease Prevention Teams will strengthen disinfection of multi-use facilities not only on weekdays but also on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays.

Disinfection and ongoing prevention measures will also be intensified for daycare centers, kindergartens, and elementary, middle, and high schools within the jurisdiction, as well as other multi-use facilities.

All departments will also strengthen focused on-site guidance and inspections for related industries or facilities under their jurisdiction. In particular, since group infections have occurred in indoor sports facilities and musical instrument playing gatherings, disinfection and on-site inspections will be conducted targeting key management industries.

Oh Gyu-seok, the governor of Gijang-gun, encouraged, “With the start of the third wave, this is a war against COVID-19. Let us work with the determination that there are no holidays in war. Only by tightening our vigilance and building a more thorough quarantine network can we defeat this formidable enemy called COVID-19.”

Governor Oh added, “With a heavy sense of responsibility to protect the safety and lives of the residents, let us lead by example even on the holidays we have given up.”

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