"COVID-19 and Cold Wave" ... Seoul City Strengthens Winter Protection Measures for Homeless and Ssokbang Residents

Installing partitions in public meal facilities and maintaining 1m spacing for emergency beds
Expanding designated hospitals to ensure no disruption in hospital care for homeless people

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Seoul City announced on the 17th that it has been operating the 'Winter Special Protection Measures' from the 15th of last month until March 15th of next year to support street homeless people and residents of jjokbangchon (small, cramped rooms) who are struggling due to the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and the winter cold wave.

First, the city has installed partitions on every table at eight public meal service facilities and is ensuring that users strictly follow basic quarantine rules such as wearing masks before entering, filling out visitor logs, checking body temperature, and hand sanitization. A total of 745 emergency sleeping spaces for the homeless have been prepared at 12 locations including comprehensive support centers, temporary shelters, and hope support centers, with social distancing maintained at intervals of more than 1 meter, and partitions have been pilot-installed in some facilities.

All facilities and furnishings in homeless shelters are disinfected with disinfectants at least twice a day, and professional disinfection is conducted at least once a month. In jjokbangchon, professional disinfection is carried out once a week in resident-use facilities and jjokbang passageways.

Additionally, to ensure that homeless people can receive hospital treatment without disruption even during the COVID-19 situation, the city is promoting the designation of additional medical facilities. For the Seoul Metropolitan Eastern Hospital, designated as an infectious disease-dedicated hospital, outpatient services in major departments, prescription refills for returning patients, and certificate issuance functions are maintained without interruption.

The city has designated this month and January of next year as the focused period for the special protection measures and has started patrols, counseling, and special management for street homeless people with underlying diseases to ensure their safety.

To protect street homeless people who refuse to enter facilities, 28 patrol and counseling teams consisting of 57 members patrol densely populated homeless areas during daytime, nighttime, and late-night hours, while 16 teams with 34 members patrol homeless concentrated areas during nighttime. They guide homeless people to enter facilities or use emergency sleeping spaces and connect those in poor health to hospital treatment.

During the winter special protection period, the city has also prepared emergency sleeping spaces that can accommodate up to 855 people by maximizing the use of spaces such as comprehensive support centers and temporary shelters. As of the 13th, 13,871 people have used the emergency sleeping spaces since the start of the winter special protection measures, averaging 479 people per day.

With private organizations reducing meal services due to COVID-19, efforts are also being made to support public meal services. The daily meal target is 1,615 people, and as of the 13th, an average of 1,679 people use the meal service daily.

Meanwhile, the city is also taking measures to prevent fires in jjokbangchon, where buildings are poor and old, and to manage the health of jjokbang residents. To prevent nighttime fire accidents, night fire patrol teams operate from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily in each jjokbangchon, and for residents with chronic diseases or elderly residents, two-person daytime resident patrol teams and visiting nursing services are provided to prevent unexpected accidents.

Kim Seon-soon, Director of Seoul City Welfare Policy Office, said, "Winter is a time when more thorough protection measures for homeless people and jjokbang residents are needed," adding, "Although the difficulties are greater than in previous years due to COVID-19, we will do our utmost to implement the special protection measures and ensure their safety."

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