Gangjin-gun, All-Out Effort to Prevent the Spread of COVID-19

All 190 Village Residents and Contacts Test Negative

Reduction of Religious Activities, Closure of Senior Centers to Prevent Local Spread

On the 16th, Lee Seung-ok, the mayor of Gangjin County, announced an appeal regarding the outbreak of COVID-19. (Photo by Gangjin County)

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-su] Gangjin-gun, which had been called a 'COVID-19 clean area' with no confirmed cases for the past year, is making every effort to block local transmission after confirmed cases occurred on the 16th.

According to Gangjin-gun on the 18th, related to a COVID-19 confirmed case who visited Gwaneumsa Temple in Yeongam-gun on the 16th, one monk at a temple located in Gangjin-eup and three residents were finally confirmed positive through COVID-19 testing.

On the morning of the 16th, when the confirmed cases were reported, Gangjin-gun urgently convened all heads of departments, divisions, offices, and towns/villages to hold an emergency countermeasure meeting, viewing the next week as the critical period and decided to concentrate administrative power to prevent additional infections.

First, a temporary screening clinic was set up in the affected village to conduct mass testing on all 32 residents, and additional tests were conducted on contacts identified through tracing the movements of the confirmed cases. As a result, as of the morning of the 18th, a total of 190 tested individuals received negative results.

Immediately after the first confirmed case occurred, Gangjin-gun collected the confirmed person's mobile phone with their consent and quickly identified the list of close contacts using GPS. Subsequently, close contacts were immediately quarantined, and efforts were made to minimize their movements to swiftly block further spread.

Additionally, epidemiological investigations including CCTV analysis of the confirmed cases' movements and on-site visits were conducted to complete contact classification and disinfection.

Seo Hyun-mi, head of the Gangjin-gun Public Health Center, stated, “Whether to disclose the confirmed cases' movements is governed by the 'Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act,' which generally prohibits disclosure of locations once contacts within the space have been identified.” She added, “Disclosure is only made when CCTV footage is unavailable or there is no visitor log, making accurate contact identification impossible.”

She further added, “Gangjin-gun has completed contact identification and disinfection through CCTV analysis and on-site visits of the relevant locations.”

On the afternoon of the 16th, Lee Seung-ok, mayor of Gangjin-gun, issued an appeal to residents, saying, “Thanks to the active cooperation of residents, there had been no confirmed COVID-19 cases until now, but it is regrettable that three cases have occurred, and I apologize to the residents.” He urged, “Please adhere well to personal prevention rules such as habitual mask-wearing and social distancing to prevent further spread of COVID-19.”

To prevent further spread of COVID-19, Gangjin-gun has temporarily suspended the operation of vulnerable facilities such as village senior centers and welfare halls, and postponed the ‘2021 Town and Village Tour Dialogue with Residents’ originally scheduled to start on the 26th.

Especially since the confirmed cases occurred at a temple, strict control will be enforced on small temples, and guidance and inspections on religious facilities such as churches and general temples will be strengthened, including reducing or banning gatherings.

Furthermore, the Gangjin Woo Market will be closed on the 19th, the market in Gangjin-eup will open, but efforts will be intensified to promote compliance with prevention rules such as mask-wearing to block the spread of local infections.

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