"Local Governments Should Learn"... Government Praises Gyeonggi-do's 'Proactive COVID-19 Response'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi-do's proactive response to the 'Novel Coronavirus Infection' (COVID-19) is drawing renewed attention.

On the 19th, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, during the 'COVID-19 Response Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting' attended by 21 central ministries and deputy heads of 17 cities and provinces nationwide, directly instructed Daegu City to swiftly act to prevent the spread by referring to Gyeonggi-do's excellent COVID-19 response system.

Prime Minister Chung said, "Since there has never been a case of COVID-19 cluster infection in Daegu, I understand that initial response may not be easy," adding, "In the case of Gyeonggi-do, as the largest local government, a preemptive response system for COVID-19 is well established. I hope that Daegu City and other local governments actively refer to this in their response."

Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo also stated, "Gyeonggi-do has created many exemplary cases for COVID-19 response, such as accurate and prompt information disclosure, preemptive reinforcement of epidemiological investigators, and prior full investigation of pneumonia patients," urging, "Other cities and provinces should actively utilize Gyeonggi-do's exemplary cases in their responses."

Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Gyeonggi-do has implemented many exemplary cases including ▲regular information disclosure twice a day ▲preemptive reinforcement of epidemiological investigators ▲preemptive full investigation of medical institution workers ▲self-quarantine for those with a history of visiting China ▲one-on-one dedicated management system for those in self-quarantine ▲prior full investigation of pneumonia patients ▲separate operation of a fake news response team ▲early provision of 200 billion KRW in funds to support small business owners and commercial districts in the province ▲pre-securement of the largest scale negative pressure and isolation beds ▲early resolution of blind spots for number 1339 through the use of the Gyeonggi-do call center number 130.

Gyeonggi-do Governor Lee Jae-myung emphasized, "Gyeonggi-do has led agile quarantine efforts against COVID-19 by proactively conducting full investigations of pneumonia patients, full investigations of workers in general and nursing hospitals, reinforcement of private epidemiological investigators, and pre-securement of the largest scale isolation beds," adding, "As countries around the world are paying attention to our country's response, we will conduct quarantine more thoroughly so that Gyeonggi-do can remain a model case in quarantine."

A provincial official promised, "If Daegu City requests cooperation to prevent the spread of COVID-19, Gyeonggi-do will actively support good policies, preemptive response model cases, and manuals within the province to do its best for the early stabilization of Daegu citizens and the protection of public health."