"Filling the COVID-19 Care Gap"... Ministry of Health and Welfare Implements Emergency Care Program

Support for Care Workers for Vulnerable Groups

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Ji-hee] The Ministry of Health and Welfare will urgently support care personnel for households, social welfare facilities, and medical institutions experiencing care gaps due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On the 19th, the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced the implementation of the '2021 Social Service Agency COVID-19 Emergency Care Project.' The Social Service Agency Emergency Care Project is designed to support care personnel so that vulnerable groups such as children, persons with disabilities, and the elderly are not left in care blind spots due to the suspension of existing care services or confirmed cases among workers or family members amid the resurgence of COVID-19.

The Ministry will also start recruiting and training care personnel in collaboration with Social Service Agencies. The Social Service Agencies conducting the COVID-19 emergency care project are established in 11 metropolitan cities and provinces, including Seoul, Daegu, Gyeonggi, Gyeongnam, Gwangju, Sejong, Chungnam, Daejeon, Incheon, Gangwon, and Jeonnam.

This project expands the emergency care services that some Social Service Agencies, including those in Daegu, have been providing to households, welfare facilities, and medical institutions since the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. Households and social welfare facilities in need of support can apply for services at their local administrative welfare centers or nearby Social Service Agencies.

Park In-seok, Director of Social Welfare Policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, stated, “We will continue to establish an immediate response system so that Social Service Agencies can stably perform their role in complementing private social service providers by offering essential public services such as emergency care during disaster situations.”