Jeonnam Province Temporarily Allows Contact Visits at Elderly Welfare Facilities for Fully Vaccinated Individuals

Only for cases where the second dose was completed over 2 weeks ago, until the 26th...

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province announced on the 14th that it will temporarily allow in-person visits to elderly welfare living facilities such as nursing homes and care centers for those who have completed COVID-19 vaccination until the 26th in celebration of Chuseok.

This measure was taken considering the reduced fatality rate and breakthrough infection rate due to COVID-19 vaccination.

Jeonnam Province, currently implementing social distancing level 3 due to the spread of the COVID-19 Delta variant, had only allowed non-contact visits until now.

In-person visits will be operated by advance reservation. Visits are only allowed if both the resident and the visitor have completed the second dose of vaccination and at least two weeks have passed.

Those who have only completed the first dose of vaccines requiring a second dose or those who have received the second dose but less than two weeks have passed are only allowed non-contact visits.

In-person visits will take place in single rooms or separate independent spaces. Visits are allowed under compliance with quarantine rules such as confirming whether the visitor has had contact with confirmed cases, wearing masks (KF94 or N95), temperature checks, and hand sanitization. Removing masks or consuming food and beverages during the visit is prohibited.

The province recommended wearing a transparent face shield during visits to minimize the risk of COVID-19 occurrence due to these in-person visits.

Visit time is limited to about 10 minutes, and disinfection and ventilation must be performed after the visit for the next visitor. Also, a certain time interval between the previous visitor and the next visitor is maintained.

Son Sunmi, head of the Elderly Welfare Division of Jeonnam Province, said, “Please strictly follow the visit rules for the safety and health of your parents when visiting facilities during this Chuseok holiday,” and added, “If your parents are unvaccinated, please refrain from visiting or postpone your visit during this Chuseok holiday.”

Meanwhile, Jeonnam Province will conduct a five-day inspection of quarantine status, including compliance with these visit rules, targeting elderly living facilities until the 17th. Currently, 325 elderly nursing and care facilities are operating in the Jeonnam area.

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