Dongdaemun-gu Implements Comprehensive COVID-19 Measures for a Safe Seollal Holiday

Districts Prepare Comprehensive Lunar New Year Measures... 24-Hour Emergency Duty for 6 Days Starting from the 10th... Focus on 6 Areas Including COVID-19 Response, Safety, Daily Life Inconveniences, and Price Stability... 13 Teams, 665 Members Monitor Local Areas

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol) has established sector-specific measures including ▲COVID-19 response ▲safety ▲daily inconvenience relief ▲traffic ▲price stabilization ▲protection of vulnerable groups to ensure residents can spend a safe and comfortable Lunar New Year holiday, and is implementing a ‘Lunar New Year Comprehensive Plan.’

During the Lunar New Year holiday period, the district office’s comprehensive situation room will be converted into a control center, conducting 24-hour emergency duty for six days from the 10th to the 15th.

Centered on the comprehensive situation room, 665 personnel across 13 teams?including the COVID-19 response situation room, emergency quarantine task force, snow removal task force, cleaning task force, emergency medical task force, and illegal parking enforcement team?will carefully monitor the area throughout the holiday.

In the comprehensive situation room, in case of emergencies, all staff led by department heads will respond promptly by reporting the status of each sector’s task force and various incidents and accidents occurring during the holiday at 4 p.m. daily via the district executive communication group (Naver Band).

◇Prevention of COVID-19 Spread

The district maintains its usual COVID-19 response system to prevent the spread of COVID-19 by monitoring self-quarantined individuals, preventing quarantine breaches, and establishing a rapid response system in case of confirmed cases.

Even during the holiday, the district will respond to COVID-19 with a seamless system including receiving COVID-19 related reports, monitoring and managing self-quarantined individuals, sending disaster safety text messages in case of confirmed cases, and maintaining cooperation with related organizations.

The COVID-19 screening clinic operating in the rear yard on the first floor of the district office will operate from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. for four days from the 11th to the 14th, providing COVID-19 screening, testing, and consultation.

The temporary COVID-19 screening site at Cheongnyangni Station Square will continue operating from 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. from the 11th to the 14th.

◇Prevention of Safety Accidents

The district is intensively conducting safety inspections targeting vulnerable facilities and construction sites to prevent safety accidents that may occur during the holiday, ensuring residents do not suffer damage from various incidents, accidents, or natural disasters.

It thoroughly inspects 35 construction sites including redevelopment sites in Yongdu-dong and Jeonnong-dong, 62 road facilities, and 5 disaster-vulnerable facilities for road subsidence caused by construction and damage to adjacent buildings.

The district also conducts visits to public hygiene businesses to prevent fires and safety accidents and to check social distancing compliance to prevent COVID-19 spread. For lodging and bath businesses, it focuses on verifying compliance with core COVID-19 quarantine rules, electronic entry log implementation, hygiene management standards, emergency stairs and doors for evacuation routes, and the presence of fire extinguishing equipment.

◇Relief of Daily Inconveniences

The district provides administrative support to ensure essential services such as holiday medical institutions, pharmacies, and waste disposal operate smoothly during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The district health center’s medical department and the comprehensive situation room will operate a day and night emergency medical response center from the 11th to the 14th, providing information on emergency rooms, medical institutions, and pharmacies available during the holiday and handling complaints related to emergency medical accidents.

Three emergency medical institution emergency rooms (Kyung Hee University Hospital, Samyook Seoul Hospital, Seoul Sacred Heart Hospital) will operate continuously during the holiday, and local clinics and hospitals will have on-duty staff according to the day of the week.

During the holiday, 268 cleaning task force workers will crack down on illegal dumping and promptly collect various household wastes mainly in residential areas. The district will collect all waste disposed of by the 10th, before the holiday starts, and will collect as much uncollected waste as possible during the holiday period (11th to 14th) to maintain a clean and pleasant urban environment.

Additionally, the district maintains a constant emergency contact system and strengthens patrols to prevent complaints caused by waste accumulation.

◇Traffic and Price Stabilization Measures

The district comprehensive situation room will provide information on changed public transportation operation times, as the extension of the last train service during holiday periods, previously implemented to prevent COVID-19 spread, has been discontinued.

It also plans to intensively crack down on taxi refusals and illegal parking around Cheongnyangni Station to prevent inconvenience to residents.

To reduce residents’ shopping burdens, the district’s Economic Promotion Division operates a price control situation room and a special inspection team. Starting with price surveys of ritual items such as apples, pears, eggs, chestnuts, and napa cabbage, they inspect personal service fee businesses, price display compliance, and illegal commercial activities including collusion, and provide price information on the district website.

To prevent COVID-19 spread and promote local agricultural product consumption, the district opens a non-face-to-face direct transaction market with sister cities and holds Lunar New Year events at markets to increase resident participation and revitalize traditional market use.

Furthermore, the district supports low-income groups through donations and sharing of hope goods, organizes street vendors around Cheongnyangni Station, and establishes public service discipline through special service inspections and audits, with all district departments thoroughly preparing for the Lunar New Year.

Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, said, “The holiday atmosphere has changed significantly from previous years due to COVID-19, so I ask residents to spend this Lunar New Year by sharing warm words over the phone rather than meeting their beloved families in their hometowns in person.” He added, “We will carefully monitor not only COVID-19 spread prevention but also safety, daily life, traffic, and price stabilization to ensure all residents have a safe and enjoyable holiday.”

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