Emergency Administrative Order for 'COVID-19' in Andong, Yecheon, and the Provincial Government New Town in Gyeongbuk

Confirmed Cases Surge Across Yecheon-gun... One-Week Extension of 'Social Distancing' Following Assembly Ban

The photo shows an emergency meeting to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in Yecheon-gun on March 8.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] As new confirmed cases of COVID-19 continue to occur centered around Yecheon-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, Gyeongbuk Province issued an emergency administrative order on the 17th for Andong-si, Yecheon, and the area around the provincial government new town.

From this day, gatherings are prohibited in the affected areas. In addition, collective facilities and businesses such as PC rooms, karaoke rooms, and bathhouses that do not comply with quarantine measures will face fines or business suspension orders.

Gyeongbuk Province, together with the police, is conducting crackdowns to check compliance with the administrative order, and has deployed public officials by district to begin monitoring. At the same time, the government’s high-intensity 'social distancing' measures, which were scheduled to end on the 19th, will be extended for one more week until the 26th.

Facilities with many elderly people, such as nursing hospitals and nursing homes, will be managed under measures equivalent to 'cohort isolation.' Education will be strengthened to ensure strict distancing is implemented for caregivers, emergency childcare workers, and elderly care workers.

If a confirmed case occurs among employees at the provincial government office, one-third of the employees will be required to switch to remote work. In addition, emergency childcare services at kindergartens and elementary schools in the Yecheon area have been completely suspended.

Gyeongbuk Province will also operate a special joint quarantine headquarters to coordinate quarantine measures between Andong-si and Yecheon-gun. The quarantine headquarters will include health centers and related organizations and groups to manage the situation through administrative support, patient and contact management, and epidemiological investigations, and plans to conduct daily disinfection in major areas of Andong and Yecheon.

Previously, in Yecheon-gun, after a 48-year-old female confirmed case and five family members were diagnosed on the 9th, 3 cases on the 10th, 3 on the 11th, 4 on the 12th, 5 on the 13th, 5 on the 14th, 6 on the 15th, 2 on the 16th, and 1 on the 17th, a total of 34 confirmed cases have surged in Yecheon, Andong, and Mungyeong over 9 days.

In the new town public official apartments near the provincial government office, a family was infected, putting the entire new town, where about 22,000 people reside including approximately 3,200 employees from 48 institutions and organizations such as the Gyeongbuk Provincial Government, on emergency alert.