Gangnam-gu Conducts COVID-19 Mass Testing for 20,000 Academy Instructors

From the 21st, for one month, targeting 3,075 instructors affiliated with academies, leading efforts to alleviate anxiety of students preparing for the CSAT

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Gangnam-gu (District Mayor Jeong Soon-gyun) recently set up an emergency screening clinic in an open space in front of the Daechi 2-dong Community Center to proactively respond to the spread of local infections following a positive COVID-19 case confirmed in a Daechi-dong academy instructor. From the 21st, a one-month full-scale testing will be conducted targeting approximately 20,000 academy instructors in the area.

This full-scale testing aims to fundamentally block the spread of infection caused by asymptomatic patients and to alleviate the anxiety of examinees preparing for the December college entrance exam.

The target group includes instructors affiliated with a total of 3,075 academies: 40 large academies with over 300 students, 1,635 medium and small academies, 900 private tutoring centers, and 500 adult academies.

The screening clinic operates on weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. (excluding weekends).

Following the infectious disease response principle of ‘early detection, early containment,’ Gangnam-gu has conducted proactive testing since the early stages of the situation, including testing all residents of the same apartment complex and nearby residents and coworkers regardless of symptoms after confirming the confirmed case’s movement path, as well as weekly sampling tests for elderly residents and workers at vulnerable facilities such as nursing homes and daycare centers. As a result, the number of specimen tests exceeded 60,000 as of the 7th.

Jeong Soon-gyun, Mayor of Gangnam-gu, stated, “As a result of proactively conducting random specimen tests so far, we discovered 90 asymptomatic infected individuals who were not previously detected, effectively preventing the spread of local infections in advance. We will do our best to protect the health and safety of our residents by maintaining vigilance until the very end.”