Seocho-gu to Conduct COVID-19 Testing for All Residents Until the End of February Next Year

From the 29th, rapid and simultaneous testing at all 18 neighborhood-specific screening clinics and 7 existing screening clinics, totaling 25 locations... Daily capacity to test 7,000 people fully prepared... Plan to test 430,000 residents across all districts by February next year

Location Map of Seocho-gu Temporary Screening Clinic

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Seocho-gu (Mayor Jo Eun-hee) has installed 25 screening clinics to halt the continuously increasing spread of COVID-19 and will begin comprehensive COVID-19 testing for all residents starting from the 29th until the end of February next year.

Seocho-gu stated that as the nationwide daily confirmed COVID-19 cases remain in the thousands and the proportion of asymptomatic cases and patients with unclear infection routes rapidly rises, a drastic measure of testing all residents is necessary to block this spread, break the chain of asymptomatic infections, and bring COVID-19 back to a manageable level.

Currently, due to the surge in confirmed cases, epidemiological investigations to trace confirmed patients' movements and identify close contacts are struggling to keep pace. Therefore, it is judged that a more proactive and preemptive approach beyond the existing methods is needed to find hidden confirmed cases.

Accordingly, along with operating the current seven screening clinics (including one untact screening clinic at the public health center and six temporary screening clinics), from the 29th, all residents will undergo thorough and rapid COVID-19 testing at screening clinics in all 18 community centers across the district.

Since the 13th, the district has been conducting tests on over 2,000 people daily through these seven clinics, identifying 40 confirmed cases so far. On the 23rd, 2,026 people were tested at six temporary screening clinics, resulting in nine confirmed cases. The positive rate was 0.44%, which is significantly higher than the usual 0.01% positivity rate of preemptive testing. This indicates the effectiveness of the thorough testing method and the high demand for testing among residents.

With testing at all 18 community centers starting December 29, a total of 25 locations will be able to test up to 7,000 people daily on average.

Therefore, it is expected that 430,000 tests will be completed by the end of February next year. The district has also fully prepared more than 7,000 test kits to meet this demand.

Since testing needs to be rapid and simultaneous, both saliva PCR and nasopharyngeal swab PCR tests will be conducted in parallel. The nasopharyngeal swab PCR test, which is performed by medical staff at most existing screening clinics, limits the number of tests due to the need for medical personnel and the inconvenience of visiting the clinics, making comprehensive testing difficult.

The saliva PCR test, conducted in booths near community centers where individuals can self-collect saliva samples, allows many people to be tested quickly without pain. Unlike other tests, it can be done independently without medical staff assistance.

The saliva PCR test (accuracy 92%) is slightly less accurate than the nasopharyngeal swab PCR test (accuracy 98%) but is superior to the rapid antigen test (accuracy 90%). Its advantage of quick testing compensates for the slightly lower accuracy.

Additionally, since the existing screening clinics and six temporary screening clinics will continue to perform nasopharyngeal swab PCR tests, conducting both test types in parallel is expected to be complementary.

Seocho-gu screening clinics are open to everyone. Operating hours are as follows: the public health center screening clinic operates weekdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; the 18 community center screening clinics and six temporary screening clinics operate weekdays from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and weekends from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., all providing free testing.

Mayor Jo Eun-hee of Seocho-gu said, “Although the government has installed and operates 147 temporary screening clinics in the metropolitan area due to the current COVID-19 spread, it is insufficient to alleviate public anxiety. Social distancing alone has limitations in overcoming this situation. This winter is the greatest crisis without vaccines in Korea. Before the precious daily lives of our residents and all of us shut down, comprehensive testing for all citizens must be conducted rapidly and simultaneously nationwide. We hope Seocho-gu’s comprehensive COVID-19 testing will serve as a reference model for nationwide rapid testing and be helpful.”

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