Prime Minister Han: "Expedite Procedures for Declaring Special Disaster Areas Due to Heavy Rain Damage" (Update)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kim Hyewon] Prime Minister Han Duck-soo stated on the 12th regarding the heavy rain damage in the central region, "We will promptly proceed with the related procedures to declare the affected areas as special disaster zones."

On the same day, Prime Minister Han chaired a meeting to review the heavy rain response situation and the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) meeting at the Government Seoul Office, stating, "The government will do its best to stabilize the lives of residents in the affected areas and support swift recovery."

He continued, "Local governments in the affected areas should promptly complete damage assessments, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety should expedite the early declaration procedures for special disaster zones for local governments that meet the declaration criteria."

Regarding the ongoing spread of COVID-19, Prime Minister Han explained, "The government currently operates 7,080 designated COVID-19 treatment beds, which we believe can handle up to approximately 210,000 confirmed cases. Additionally, with the participation of many hospitals, treatment is possible in about 7,200 general beds, so we have the capacity to adequately respond even if more confirmed cases occur."

He also said, "Going forward, high-risk groups such as the elderly will be able to receive priority testing and treatment through visit reservations when using one-stop medical institutions. The government and local governments will conduct another joint inspection within this month to continuously improve any shortcomings in the provision of one-stop medical services." He added, "We will also regularly check the operation status of the 'Medical Consultation Center,' which provides 24-hour non-face-to-face medical consultations for those undergoing home treatment, and strengthen management by revoking designations of insufficient institutions and entrusting the service to medical institutions capable of treatment."

Furthermore, he stated, "As confirmed cases increase, we will encourage and support the expansion of supply to prevent issues in the supply of fever reducers and cold medicines. In particular, for drugs where supply-demand imbalance is a concern, we will ease the application of the 'Drug Price Linkage System,' which lowers prices when usage increases, so that manufacturers can increase production without hesitation."

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