"Nationwide Nursing Hospital Workers to Confirm Visits to COVID-19 Outbreak Countries"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The government will conduct a comprehensive survey of workers and caregivers who have visited countries with a high risk of COVID-19 outbreaks at long-term care hospitals with many elderly inpatients. This measure aims to prevent infections among the elderly in advance.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 17th, the comprehensive survey will be conducted over two days until the 18th, targeting approximately 1,470 long-term care hospitals nationwide. The Central Disaster Headquarters and local branches of the National Health Insurance Service will verify the travel history of all workers at these hospitals, including special entry procedure areas such as Hong Kong and Macau.

Through the survey, they will also check whether workers with such travel histories have been excluded from their duties and receive lists of those who have not been excluded. Additionally, they will investigate whether any inpatients have pneumonia, the measures taken, and whether visitor restrictions are in place, and will require corrections for any deficiencies found.

So far, the government has recommended, through the "Key Response Guidelines for Infection Control in Medical Institutions," that workers and caregivers who have entered from Hubei Province be mandatorily excluded from work. In particular, caregivers are urged to verify travel history to China through dispatch agencies and exclude them from work accordingly.

The Central Disaster Headquarters added, "Through this survey, we aim to preemptively block the risk of COVID-19 infection via workers and caregivers at long-term care hospitals and to guide the hospitals themselves on compliance measures for infection prevention."