Eunpyeong-gu Deploys Team Leaders and Above On-Site to Prevent COVID-19 'Hospital-Acquired Infection' Spread

237 District and Neighborhood Team Leaders Directly Distribute and Post Promotional Materials On-Site, Conduct 1:1 Dedicated Monitoring... Field Response and TF Teams Formed for In-Depth Epidemiological Investigations, Focus on Infection Control in Hospitals... Disinfection of 414 Religious Facilities

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Eunpyeong-gu (Mayor Kim Mi-kyung) announced that following the occurrence of multiple COVID-19 confirmed cases related to Catholic Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital located in Eunpyeong-gu, an occupational therapist working at Seoul Rehabilitation Hospital (located in Gusan-dong, Eunpyeong-gu) was confirmed positive on the 25th. The district will strongly respond using all possible measures aligned with the crisis level ‘Severe’ to prevent any additional confirmed cases.

For comprehensive publicity to local residents, 237 team leaders from the district and neighborhood offices will go out from the 26th to the 28th to designated assigned areas to directly distribute and post COVID-19 related promotional materials. Additionally, a ‘Joint Management Task Force’ is operating, where 134 district team leaders conduct continuous one-on-one monitoring of 260 Eunpyeong-gu residents working at Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital who are under active surveillance.

Seoul Rehabilitation Hospital has been temporarily closed following the confirmed cases, and emergency disinfection of all wards and rooms has been completed. An on-site response team consisting of experts and epidemiologists was immediately formed on the 5th floor of the Eunpyeong-gu Public Health Center to conduct in-depth epidemiological investigations and ensure thorough infection control within the hospital.

Separately from the operation of the Eunpyeong-gu Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters (9 task forces, operating 24 hours), cooperation with Seoul City has been established, with a situation room set up inside Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital and a task force team formed to promptly respond to disinfection, patient management, and infection control within the hospital.

In response to recent rapid community spread of COVID-19 through religious facilities, an emergency budget of 240 million KRW has been allocated. Since the 25th, disinfection has been conducted at all 414 religious facilities within the district, with plans for additional disinfection depending on the spread of COVID-19.

Due to the postponement of school openings for kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools (from March 2 to March 9), close cooperation with schools has been established. For students unable to use care classrooms during the closure period, guidance has been provided to connect them with local child centers and community care institutions to prevent service gaps. Continuous disinfection, posting of preventive guidelines, and other measures have been implemented at each school.

Following the Seoul-wide closure order for all daycare centers, Eunpyeong-gu has also closed 260 daycare centers in the district (from February 25 to March 9). A dedicated COVID-19 response team for daycare centers has been formed to actively respond to emergencies such as confirmed cases.

Additionally, over 14,000 hand sanitizers and 180,000 masks have been distributed to local facilities, markets, daycare centers, and medical institutions. Disinfection of multi-use facilities, daycare centers, and subway stations has been conducted 179 times by private autonomous disaster prevention groups and 280 times by the district office, totaling 459 times. Furthermore, 300,000 COVID-19 prevention leaflets are being produced and distributed to residents.

Financial support is also being prepared for those affected by COVID-19.

‘Self-quarantined individuals’ will receive goods worth approximately 100,000 KRW per household; ‘hospital workers living in temporary residences due to COVID-19 confirmed patients being hospitalized’ can receive up to 1 million KRW in housing support; ‘households facing sudden crisis situations such as business suspension, closure, or unemployment due to COVID-19’ can receive between 300,000 KRW and 1 million KRW; and ‘households notified of COVID-19 hospitalization treatment or quarantine release’ can receive between 450,000 KRW and 1.45 million KRW. For detailed information, residents should contact their local neighborhood community service center.

Regarding the occurrence of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the district, Mayor Kim stated, “This is a critical time when the entire community’s efforts to prevent the spread of infectious diseases are urgently needed. We are doing our utmost by mobilizing all personnel and administrative resources to protect the health and safety of our residents, and we ask for the active cooperation of all residents.”

He also added, “Residents who have visited or been admitted or discharged from Eunpyeong St. Mary’s Hospital since February 1 or Seoul Rehabilitation Hospital since February 8 and who have fever or respiratory symptoms should consult by phone with the Eunpyeong-gu Public Health Center (351-8640-1) or the call center (120/1339) and then receive medical examination at screening clinics (Eunpyeong-gu Public Health Center, Seoul Metropolitan Seobuk Hospital).”