Jeonnam Province Conducts Emergency Mass Testing for Public Transportation Workers

[Muan=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Yoon Jamin] Jeonnam Province has launched an emergency mass testing after a public transportation worker tested positive for COVID-19.

The province announced on the 23rd that after confirming that the 700th COVID-19 case in Jeonnam was a taxi driver in Suncheon City, it will conduct emergency mass testing for all 1,654 public transportation workers, including taxi and bus drivers in the Suncheon area.

Previously, from the 6th to the 14th, the province conducted tests on 1,578 public transportation workers in Suncheon City, all of whom tested negative.

However, due to the occurrence of the 700th confirmed case in Jeonnam, preemptive measures have been established to identify hidden infections and prevent regional spread.

By the 24th, 20 medical personnel have been urgently deployed to the drive-through screening site set up at Palma Gymnasium in Suncheon City to test 1,243 taxi drivers in the Suncheon area.

Then, on the 25th and 26th, a mobile specimen collection team consisting of five medical personnel will visit the bus depot located in Gagok-dong, Suncheon, to test 411 bus drivers.

Kang Young-gu, Director of the Health and Welfare Bureau of Jeonnam Province, said, “If a public transportation worker tests positive for COVID-19, it not only spreads the infection but also causes service suspensions, which harms residents. We will expand testing to other high-risk occupations that interact with many people in the future.”