Seoul City Strengthens New Semester Quarantine... 1.6 Billion Won Support for Childcare Center Quarantine Supplies

Strengthening New Semester Quarantine with Support for Thermal Cameras and Disinfection Devices According to District Demand
Detailed Quarantine Rules by Childcare Time, Inspection of Compliance at 213 Childcare Centers with Over 100 Children

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Seoul City will support 1.6 billion KRW worth of quarantine supplies, including disinfection devices and thermal imaging cameras, to frontline daycare centers to strengthen the quarantine environment ahead of the new school term. In addition, joint inspections by the city and district will be conducted on 213 large-scale daycare centers with more than 100 enrolled children.

On the 24th, Seoul City announced that it has reorganized support and quarantine systems suitable for childcare sites to minimize COVID-19 infections in daycare centers for the new school term. The plan is to shift from prolonged closures and restrictive quarantine rules to open and detailed quarantine guidelines to simultaneously minimize infections and restore daily life.

First, through district competitions, quarantine supplies tailored to the characteristics and needs of each district, such as disinfection devices and thermal imaging cameras, will be provided. On the 18th, Seoul held a review committee meeting for the district competition project and decided to support eight districts with 1.6 billion KRW worth of quarantine supplies. Support will be strengthened for the remaining districts as additional budgets are secured.

To block infection sources within daycare centers, quarantine rules were subdivided by childcare time and communicated to childcare sites. For example, temperature checks will be conducted not only during morning arrival but also once more during childcare activities after lunch.

Furthermore, starting from the 25th, Seoul will conduct joint inspections by the city and districts on 213 large-scale daycare centers with more than 100 enrolled children to fully focus on preventing infectious diseases. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 last year, Seoul has taken proactive measures ahead of the government, such as closing daycare centers, urgently supporting quarantine supplies, banning special activities and external visitors in daycare centers due to the increase in confirmed cases in the metropolitan area, and requiring submission of reasons for using emergency childcare.

Recently, following proactive testing of childcare staff, Seoul has encouraged proactive testing for parents of children using emergency childcare and emphasized compliance with quarantine rules at home. Song Da-young, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Women and Family Policy Office, said, “So far, we have focused on minimizing infections with restrictive quarantine rules in daycare centers in response to COVID-19, but this inevitably caused many restrictions on the daily life of daycare centers. With the prolonged COVID-19 situation, we will strive not only to minimize infections but also to restore daily life in daycare centers by establishing a detailed quarantine system suitable for childcare sites.”

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