Daycare Centers and Subways Under Intensive Inspection... Seoul City Promotes 'Bindae Zero' Initiative

No Cases Found in Daycare Centers or Subways
Nation's First Online Reporting Portal Established

As bedbugs have been appearing across the country, raising public anxiety, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is launching a comprehensive response. To protect infants and young children who are vulnerable to bedbugs, the city plans to actively implement quarantine measures, including managing daycare centers and establishing the nation's first online 'Bedbug Reporting Center.'

According to Seoul City on the 13th, Mayor Oh Se-hoon declared a 'Bedbug Zero City' and instructed the strengthening of the response system. Earlier, on the 9th, Mayor Oh held the 'Seoul Bedbug Countermeasure Expert Meeting' by inviting experts in healthcare and infectious diseases to discuss the current quarantine status and countermeasures.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon is giving a greeting at the 'Bed Bug Zero City Project' expert meeting held on the 9th at the City Hall conference room. Photo by Seoul City

◆ Joint Response by Daycare Centers, Autonomous Districts, and Seoul City= First, to manage bedbugs in daycare centers caring for infants and young children, a close situation management system will be established among daycare centers, autonomous districts, and Seoul City. A 'Daycare Center Bedbug Prevention and Management Plan' will be prepared and implemented across all daycare centers.

On the 1st, the 'Seoul Bedbug Prevention and Management Guide' was already distributed to daycare centers, and this time, additional prevention and action plans are being prepared. Through this plan, a situation management system will be established to enable immediate reporting to autonomous districts and the city. The city will manage occurrences, and when bedbug suspicion or occurrence arises, related departments or health centers will directly dispatch personnel to inspect the site and support pest control and disinfection.

Childcare teachers will frequently check for itching behaviors and bedbug bite marks on infants and young children. If bedbug bites are suspected, they will immediately contact the guardians and advise visiting the nearest hospital promptly. Currently, among 4,443 daycare centers in the city, 1,002 centers (22.5%) have completed disinfection and hygiene inspections, and no cases of bedbug occurrence in daycare centers have been found yet.

◆ Operation of Bedbug Reporting Center and Strengthening Subway Pest Control= Alongside this, the city has been operating the nation's first 'Bedbug Reporting Center' since the 3rd to strengthen bedbug response.

According to the center, from the 13th of last month to the 6th of this month, a total of 232 bedbug-related complaints were received. While 52 cases were reported last month, 180 cases were reported within just six days from the 1st to the 6th of this month. Among these, 157 were requests for pest control, the highest number. Private residences accounted for 74 cases, lodging facilities 28 cases, and so on. In total, 23 cases of confirmed bedbug appearances have been reported in Seoul.

Furthermore, pest control in the subway, the lifeline for Seoul citizens, will be strengthened. According to Seoul Metro Corporation, although sightings of bedbugs on the subway have spread online, no bedbugs have actually been found in the subway to date.

The corporation will increase high-temperature steam cleaning of fabric-covered train seats, previously conducted once a month, to twice a month. They will also maintain cleanliness by thoroughly removing food and other contaminants between the backrest and seat. Additionally, insecticides approved by the Ministry of Environment (Etovega Emulsion, Bioeto Emulsion) will be sprayed up to four times a month. The corporation plans to actively use additional insecticides approved in the future that are effective in eradicating bedbugs.

Currently, train car seats are composed of 58% fabric, 27% polycarbonate, and 15% stainless steel. The fabric-covered seats will be gradually replaced with polycarbonate seats.

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