Busan Mayor Park Hyungjoon Takes Preemptive Action to Curb COVID-19 Spread... 30,000 Self-Test Kits for Emergency Support to Low-Income, Vulnerable Groups, and Elderly Living Alone

On the morning of the 20th, visited Jung-gu Public Health Center, Jung-gu Senior Welfare Center, and Busan Medical Center, urged related organizations to make efforts to prevent the spread

Mayor Park: "We will protect vulnerable seniors, activate quarantine safety networks, and respond proactively to COVID-19"

Mayor Park Hyungjoon will conduct on-site inspections at Jung-gu Public Health Center, Jung-gu Senior Welfare Center, and Busan Medical Center at 10:30 a.m. on the 20th to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Busan and to establish a thorough quarantine safety net, as the recent resurgence of COVID-19 has become severe.

Currently, about 65% of confirmed COVID-19 cases are among the elderly, making rapid diagnosis and treatment more urgent than ever. However, due to the shortage of self-diagnosis kits, diagnoses are being delayed. In response, Mayor Park will provide an emergency supply of 30,000 self-diagnosis kits to proactively address the rapid spread of COVID-19 among the vulnerable elderly population and will directly check the situation on the ground.

This emergency support of self-diagnosis kits will target vulnerable groups, such as low-income seniors living alone who are over 65 years old and particularly susceptible to infection.

On this day, Mayor Park will visit Jung-gu Public Health Center to deliver the self-diagnosis kits, which the city managed to purchase by contacting diagnostic kit manufacturers nationwide, and will check the stock status of quarantine supplies. He will also inspect the readiness of local public health centers to respond to the spread of COVID-19, including the prompt implementation of epidemiological investigations in case of outbreaks at vulnerable facilities.

The city and its 16 districts and counties continue to share COVID-19 response and action updates through the Busan Medical Council. To ensure stable supply of treatments and self-diagnosis kits, which have recently become scarce, the city has expanded regular deliveries of treatments to twice a week and is continuously monitoring the supply and distribution of self-diagnosis kits.

Next, Mayor Park will visit Jung-gu Senior Welfare Center to review overall quarantine response measures at infection-prone facilities and compliance with infectious disease prevention guidelines. He will also urge the city and local districts to cooperate in providing support measures, such as care programs, to prevent seniors' social activities from shrinking due to the spread of COVID-19.

To effectively respond to group outbreaks of infectious diseases, the city has visited 19 vulnerable facilities in the first half of this year to provide tailored on-site consulting and is focusing on enhancing the on-site infection control capabilities of facility staff, as well as preventing and managing group infections of COVID-19.

Finally, during his visit to Busan Medical Center, Mayor Park will personally encourage medical staff and inspect the operation of dedicated beds, negative pressure wards, patient recovery status, and the securing of treatments. He will also review mid- to long-term plans, such as the site for the respiratory center being prepared to cope with sudden outbreaks of infectious diseases.

With the ongoing heatwave, the increase in enclosed spaces due to air conditioning, more travel during the holiday season, and the reopening of schools, COVID-19 is rapidly resurging.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency forecasts that the summer wave of COVID-19 will continue until the end of August, based on trends from the past two years. As of the first week of August, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients (861) has increased ninefold compared to the first week of July (91), indicating a severe resurgence.

Mayor Park Hyungjoon emphasized, "By providing emergency self-diagnosis kits, we will protect vulnerable elderly groups from COVID-19 infection, and by securing treatments and supporting self-diagnosis tools, we will operate a tight quarantine safety net to proactively and actively respond to the resurgence of COVID-19." He added, "I also urge citizens to follow infectious disease prevention guidelines such as indoor ventilation, hand washing, and wearing masks, and to visit a nearby medical institution for appropriate treatment and take sufficient rest until symptoms recover if they experience COVID-19 symptoms."

Busan City Hall.

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