Dongdaemun-gu Renovates to Welcome Senior Citizens at Senior Centers

Spring Cleaning for Reopening Senior Centers... Wallpaper and Flooring Replaced in 7 Public Senior Centers... Regular Cleaning and Hygienic Environment Maintained by Senior Job Participants... Masks and Hand Sanitizers Provided

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Dongdaemun-gu (Mayor Yoo Deok-yeol) has embarked on spring cleaning of senior centers to revitalize the centers, which have been stagnant due to prolonged closures caused by COVID-19, and to prepare for the time when the elderly will use the centers again.

Since mid-February last year, Dongdaemun-gu senior centers have repeatedly closed and reopened depending on the spread of COVID-19. They were closed again in December when social distancing was raised to level 2.5, and the closure continues to this day.

Accordingly, the Senior and Disabled Welfare Division of Dongdaemun-gu conducted environmental maintenance of the senior centers to revitalize them and ensure that the elderly can use the facilities hygienically and healthily upon reopening.

Turning the crisis of long-term closure into an opportunity, inspections were conducted from early this year by visiting public senior centers to carry out wallpaper and flooring replacement work, which is difficult to perform while the centers are open.

Among them, seven public senior centers urgently requiring maintenance due to building aging and leaks causing mold on wallpaper or damage to flooring (Dongbu, Mansu, Dapsimni Sarang, Jungsan, Hongneung, Geunrin, and Hwikyung 2-dong senior centers) were selected, and wallpaper and flooring replacement work was completed with a budget of 15 million won.

Also, to enable the elderly to use the centers immediately upon reopening, senior job participants have been assigned to each center to conduct spring cleaning, and 26,000 masks and 655 hand sanitizers have been distributed to 131 senior centers to prepare for preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Yoo Deok-yeol, Mayor of Dongdaemun-gu, stated, “We will decide on reopening the senior centers considering the social distancing level and the trend of confirmed cases,” adding, “We will do our best to ensure that the elderly can use the centers safely and hygienically as soon as they reopen.”