Gyeonggi-do's Proactive COVID-19 Measures Draw Attention... Complete Survey of Medical Personnel Visiting China Completed

Province, government all accept crackdowns and penalties on hoarding masks and hand sanitizers, as well as comprehensive investigation of pneumonia patients

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has completed a full survey of medical institution workers, including caregivers, who have visited China in relation to the 'Novel Coronavirus' (COVID-19).

This is noteworthy as a proactive response, coming ahead of the government’s full survey which began the day after the expanded Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting chaired by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun on the 16th, where measures for nursing hospitals and caregivers were discussed.

Earlier, at the end of last month, the province had proposed crackdowns on hoarding of masks and hand sanitizers and a full survey of pneumonia patients due to the spread of COVID-19, all of which the government recently accepted.

According to the province on the 18th, from the 30th of last month to the 3rd of this month, a survey was conducted on 65,990 workers at 358 general and nursing hospitals in the province regarding their history of visiting China. It was found that 263 people had either visited China or come into contact with visitors between January 15 and 29.

By occupation, there were 28 doctors, 3 pharmacists, 69 nursing staff, 58 caregivers, and 105 others.

Among them, 174 were designated for monitoring, and 87 were classified for self-quarantine and work exclusion based on each hospital’s judgment. Two were prohibited from entering the country and remain in China.

Subsequently, 82 of those in self-quarantine were released after 14 days without any unusual symptoms. The remaining 5 (all caregivers) are still in self-quarantine as 14 days have not yet passed since their date of entry.

However, among those released from self-quarantine, 3 caregivers have not been allowed to return to work by their hospitals and remain excluded from duties.

As a result, as of now, only 10 caregivers among medical institution workers in the province who have a history of visiting China or contact with visitors have not yet returned to work.

This survey is notable as a preemptive measure by Gyeonggi Province ahead of the government-level survey targeting nursing hospital workers and caregivers.

The province also plans to additionally investigate whether people who visited COVID-19 affected areas other than China have been excluded from work for 14 days.

A provincial official stated, "We are cooperating with each public health center to prevent community infection caused by medical institution workers. Although most have completed self-quarantine or monitoring and are currently working, we will continue to strictly manage according to the 'Medical Institution Infection Control Response Guidelines' and do our best to prevent COVID-19."

Meanwhile, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters decided on the 17th to conduct a full survey of travel histories to China, Hong Kong, and Macau among nursing hospital workers and caregivers.