Ministry of the Interior and Safety Activates 'Wuhan Pneumonia' Task Force... Two-Week Quarantine for Returning Wuhan Residents

[Asia Economy Reporter Osangdo] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety has activated a 'Countermeasure Support Headquarters' to respond to the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan Pneumonia) that originated in Wuhan, China. This is the first time in about 1 year and 4 months since September 2018, when a Countermeasure Support Headquarters at the Ministry level was formed in response to an overseas novel infectious disease, following the occurrence of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) confirmed cases.

According to the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 28th, the Situation Management Team, which was activated after the first confirmed domestic case, will be operated as the Countermeasure Support Headquarters due to the escalation of the response level. The government raised the infectious disease crisis alert related to the novel coronavirus from 'Caution' to 'Alert.'

The Countermeasure Support Headquarters is composed of 9 members, including the Director of the Disaster Cooperation Office as the head, the Director of Social Disaster Response Policy, and the Head of the Health Disaster Response Division. It is responsible for identifying requests from related ministries and local governments and providing support.

On the same day, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety held an emergency situation inspection meeting chaired by the Director of the Disaster Cooperation Office, with officials from related ministries and local governments participating. At this meeting, they focused on discussing support measures for the quarantine life of Korean residents returning from Wuhan. To this end, a government joint support team dedicated to managing returning residents will be organized with 4 teams and 75 members.

The support team will be responsible for transporting returning residents and managing and operating temporary living facilities for the 2-week quarantine period.

Lee Seung-woo, Director of Social Disaster Response Policy at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, stated, "About 700 people are expected to enter from Wuhan, and we are considering a plan to accommodate them separately based on the presence or absence of symptoms such as fever and cough."

The Ministry of the Interior and Safety will also review support for manpower and special grants to local governments and upgrade city and provincial quarantine response teams to regional disaster safety countermeasure headquarters. If the infection spreads to specific regions or nationwide, a 'Pan-Government Countermeasure Support Headquarters' led by the Disaster Safety Management Headquarters Director or a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) led by the Minister of the Interior and Safety may be activated.

The Pan-Government Countermeasure Support Headquarters was first activated in June 2015 when the first MERS patient was confirmed in Korea. The only time the CDSCH was activated due to an infectious disease was during the spread of the novel influenza in November 2009.

Minister Jin Young of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said, "The government and the private sector will work together to make every effort to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus," and added, "The public should not be overly anxious and should carefully follow personal hygiene and infection prevention guidelines."