Yongin Mayor Baek Gun-gi Announces Operation of 'Glove Wall Screening Clinic' Separating Medical Staff and Patients

[Asia Economy (Yongin) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province is expanding the operation of 'Glove-Wall' screening clinics where medical staff can collect specimens without wearing protective suits.

The Glove-Wall screening clinic is a system that allows both medical staff and citizens to safely and conveniently undergo testing by installing positive and negative pressure systems in two spaces strictly separated by an acrylic wall to prevent air mixing.

On the 14th, Mayor Baek Gun-gi of Yongin announced through a Facebook live broadcast at the city hall briefing room, "We are expanding the operation of Glove-Wall screening clinics where medical staff can collect specimens without wearing protective suits and without infection concerns."

There had been criticism that the existing screening clinics urgently needed improvement because medical staff had to wear airtight protective suits to collect specimens.

Accordingly, Yongin City installed and began operating a Glove-Wall screening clinic at the Cheoin-gu Public Health Center on the 9th. The installation at Giheung-gu and Suji-gu Public Health Centers is planned to be completed within this week.

Mayor Baek explained, "We expect this to enhance the stability of specimen collection by reducing the physical burden on medical staff and testees working in thick protective suits in the hot weather at screening clinics."

Mayor Baek also stated, "Following the government's mandate for all churches to comply with core quarantine rules, on the 12th we monitored 170 small-scale churches with fewer than 30 members and 2 large churches in the area for compliance. We will continue to monitor religious facilities such as cathedrals, temples, and Won Buddhism centers until COVID-19 eases."

Mayor Baek added, "In preparation for natural disasters in summer, we are conducting simultaneous inspections of nine Sewol bridges, eleven Jisooji reservoirs, and 23 high-risk areas including roads prone to flooding, and are strengthening emergency systems in close cooperation with related organizations."

He also explained, "To cope with heat waves, we are implementing various mitigation policies such as installing shade shelters at 191 traffic islands near crosswalks and operating water spraying trucks on major roads."