Suncheon-si Publishes 'COVID-19 White Paper' Detailing Response Process

The Past Year of COVID-19 Response: The Citizen Solidarity of Sharing and Caring Shone Brightest

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Hyung-kwon] Suncheon City, Jeollanam-do (Mayor Heo Seok) published the "Suncheon City COVID-19 Response White Paper" on the 20th, summarizing the response processes and issues according to the COVID-19 crisis situations.

Through this COVID-19 white paper, the city meticulously recorded the outbreak and response process of the infectious disease to effectively cope without repeating the difficulties experienced in responding to other infectious diseases similar to COVID-19.

The white paper is broadly divided into seven sections: ▲Overview of COVID-19 ▲COVID-19 Response and Hot Issues ▲Citizen Cooperation and Communication ▲COVID-19 Response Achievements and Reflections ▲With COVID-19 Era, among others.

The overview section comprehensively organizes the status from the outbreak of COVID-19, infection routes, confirmed case occurrences, operation of the comprehensive situation room, and response system.

The COVID-19 Response and Hot Issues section vividly captures the process of overcoming the unprecedented crisis of infectious disease group outbreaks through trial and error.

Last August, when COVID-19 rapidly spread, Suncheon was the first among basic local governments nationwide to proactively respond by raising social distancing to level 2. It also included the case where, to avoid business restriction hours at local pubs, businesses operated from 5 a.m., leading to the so-called "daytime drinking ban" as an unavoidable measure to prevent further spread of infection. This was recognized nationwide as a hot model for overcoming the COVID-19 crisis.

Additionally, due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic causing economic contraction and difficulties for local small business owners, the "Good Rent Reduction Civic Movement" was launched to reduce commercial rent. The white paper also provides a clear overview of the Suncheon-style community movement, including the delivery of daily necessities boxes to vulnerable groups (5,500 people), mask distribution to all citizens (280,000 people), and citizens' volunteer activities, all voluntarily practiced by citizens for coexistence through sharing and consideration.

Meanwhile, the response organizations and operational systems flexibly operated according to confirmed case situations, the public-private cooperation process and collaboration details, as well as vivid interviews with frontline workers in health, medical care, and epidemiological investigations in the With COVID-19 era, and citizens' writings for overcoming COVID-19 are also included.

The background for publishing this COVID-19 white paper is to conduct a mid-term review of the COVID-19 response process over the past year, diagnose achievements and reflections together, seek improvement measures, and use it as an indicator for more systematic and efficient responses in the future.

In particular, the recent crisis of cluster infections occurring through various routes in the region earlier this month was greatly helped in blocking further spread such as Nth infections by the experience of responding to COVID-19 over the past year.

Mayor Heo Seok of Suncheon said, "I sincerely thank the healthcare workers who sacrificed more than anyone else during the difficult and breathless fight against COVID-19, the cooperation of related organizations, citizens' compliance with quarantine rules, and voluntary participation in the Suncheon-style community movement for sharing and consideration." He added, "We will continue to work harder on a full-scale response without letting our guard down until the day COVID-19 ends."