Visited Boramae Hospital in Dongjak-gu, Seoul on the 27th... Accompanied by Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare, and Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun stated on the 27th regarding the novel coronavirus infection, commonly referred to as "Wuhan pneumonia," that "the government is taking the rapid global spread of the novel coronavirus very seriously." On the same day, Prime Minister Chung visited Boramae Hospital in Dongjak-gu, Seoul, and emphasized, "Efforts to block the spread of infection are the most important."
Since the first confirmed case was reported domestically on the 20th, a total of four confirmed cases have been identified as of this day, prompting the government to strengthen its response measures. Prime Minister Chung said, "Based on past experiences with MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) and SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome), there is a consensus between the government and local governments that proactive and strong responses are necessary," and stressed, "Efforts to implement this are required." He also requested, "Information sharing and communication between the Ministry of Health and Welfare, local governments, and medical institutions are essential, and the public should cooperate in preventing the spread by contacting the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention call center (1339) in advance before visiting hospitals if symptoms appear."
On the same day, Prime Minister Chung received a report on the response situation from Kim Byung-kwan, director of Boramae Hospital, at the screening clinic. He inspected the installation and operation status of the screening clinic, as well as isolation beds in the hospital emergency room, negative pressure equipment, and isolation beds in the infectious disease ward. Expressing gratitude for the medical staff working during the Lunar New Year holiday, he urged, "The government will provide maximum support to ensure there are no difficulties in the response, so please do your best to protect the safety of the people." Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo and Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon accompanied him on the visit.
On the first day of the holiday and the day the second confirmed case was reported, January 24th, Prime Minister Chung visited Incheon International Airport to directly inspect quarantine measures. On the same day, he chaired an emergency meeting with related agencies to discuss response measures such as strengthening quarantine.
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