Gwangjin-gu Holds Resident Listening Session to Improve COVID-19 Quarantine System

26 Resident Representatives by Age, Facility, and Industry Attend to Share Opinions, Gather Feedback on COVID-19 Quarantine System Inconveniences and Improvement Measures for Policy Reflection

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Gwangjin-gu (Mayor Kim Seon-gap) collected residents' opinions on the inconveniences and improvement measures of the current quarantine system to overcome COVID-19.

The 'Resident Listening Session for Improving the COVID-19 Quarantine System,' held on the 11th at the district office's comprehensive situation room, was organized to hear residents' vivid voices and seek solutions regarding the management of the rapidly increasing confirmed cases after the phased recovery of daily life and the inconveniences and improvement measures related to frequently changing quarantine rules.

Under strict compliance with quarantine rules, 26 residents from various fields attended the session, including ▲resident representatives by age group ▲facility officials from medical institutions and nursing hospitals ▲small business owners from alley markets and singing practice rooms ▲religious and school officials, to present on-site opinions.

The listening session proceeded with a report on the quarantine situation and free remarks from attendees.

After explaining the quarantine status and revisions to quarantine rules, Deputy Mayor Eom Ui-sik said, "This session was organized to jointly find solutions to overcome the current situation of rapidly increasing COVID-19 cases, so please feel free to share even small opinions."

Subsequently, each resident representative engaged in a heated discussion, offering various opinions such as ▲managing COVID-19 like a seasonal illness to guarantee students' right to learn ▲expanding family relief accommodations for home treatment patients and improving phone connection issues to make accommodations more convenient.

Regarding the opinion to manage COVID-19 like a seasonal illness, the district responded, "COVID-19 is currently designated as a first-class infectious disease and is being strictly managed, but we will discuss lowering the infectious disease level in the future and consult with the Office of Education."

Regarding requests to expand family relief accommodations for home treatment patients and improve phone connection issues, the district replied, "Accommodations can be expanded according to future demand, and we plan to build an integrated ARS system to resolve phone connection problems related to COVID-19. Additionally, under current government policy, health management kits are sent only to intensive management groups, but the district will actively support providing them to general management groups as well to aid home treatment."

Other opinions, such as the medical staff representative's proposal to "promote avoiding the abuse of oral antiviral drugs" and the facility representative's suggestion to "simplify confirmed case trend reporting," will be actively reviewed for policy reflection.

In particular, the karaoke business owner representing small business owners expressed, "Until now, business owners have done their best to comply with government guidelines by undergoing weekly PCR tests, but as confirmed cases continue to rise, it is very difficult. We all hope to unite and finally see an end." Everyone empathized with this and agreed on the need to prepare measures to expand compensation for losses.

Deputy Mayor Eom Ui-sik said, "In addition, the district will actively review and promote improvements or supplements to the opinions raised at the listening session, and for improvement proposals that require decisions by government ministries, we will also present opinions to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency."

Earlier, Gwangjin-gu Mayor Kim Seon-gap compiled opinions gathered through dialogue with residents at the quarantine report meeting held in December last year and delivered them to Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum. Among them, suggestions such as easing fines for quarantine violation facilities were reflected in central government administration.

Also, from the 10th to the 14th of this month, the district is actively establishing a Gwangjin-type quarantine system in cooperation with residents to overcome COVID-19 by promoting a special public contest for ideas to improve quarantine rules targeting Seoul citizens.

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