Haenam-gun Mobilizes Full Administrative Power to Curb Omicron Spread Among Children

Daycare Centers, Academies, etc. Require Self-Test Kit Screening and Passive Monitoring; Advising Limited Use of Multi-Use Facilities

[Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun] On the 17th, Haenam-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that it is making every effort to prevent cluster infections through emergency usage restrictions and other quarantine measures as the Omicron variant spreads mainly among unvaccinated children.

Since the Lunar New Year holiday, 452 confirmed cases have occurred in Haenam, of which 106 cases (23.5%) are unvaccinated children aged 11 and under.

In particular, as the transmission range expands to daycare centers (kindergartens) and sports academies, the number of infected children continues to increase. Since children require care, families are forced to quarantine together, leading to additional family members becoming infected.

In response to signs of cluster infections among infants and young children, the county has imposed emergency usage restrictions on daycare centers where confirmed cases have occurred, and decided to close other daycare centers until the situation is resolved, recommending home care except for emergency care.

Sports academies where transmission occurred from daycare centers have decided to close voluntarily for one week. Additionally, 12,621 self-test kits have been urgently distributed to about 160 vulnerable facilities in the region, including daycare centers, academies, and nursing facilities, allowing all children and workers to be tested and use the facilities only after confirming negative results.

Regarding confirmed cases in kindergarten and elementary school sports teams, the county is coordinating with the Office of Education to guide self-testing before attending school by distributing self-test kits along with voluntary closures.

A county official stated, “We are mobilizing all administrative power to block the local spread of this Omicron variant,” and urged, “We ask all residents to refrain from visiting other regions, going out, or gathering with young children.”

Haenam＝Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Hyun kh0424@asiae.co.kr

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