[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The Ministry of the Interior and Safety announced on the 9th that it held a meeting to review safety management measures for the Chuseok holiday with the participation of central government ministries and metropolitan and provincial governments to ensure that the public can have a safe Chuseok holiday.
At this meeting, measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and safety management plans by related agencies were reviewed. Fourteen ministries including the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, Ministry of Health and Welfare, Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Employment and Labor, Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, Fire Agency, Korea Forest Service, Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Korea Coast Guard, and National Police Agency, as well as 17 metropolitan and provincial governments participated.
First, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety will strengthen the 24-hour situation management system among related agencies centered on the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and will check weather, major accident responses, and traffic conditions daily. In addition, to prevent this holiday from becoming an opportunity for further COVID-19 spread, it plans to maintain quarantine management posture through close cooperation with each ministry and local governments, conducting on-site inspections and strengthening management of self-quarantined individuals.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare will strengthen quarantine measures at facilities frequently used during the holiday to minimize infection risk and maintain a seamless medical response system. Visitors are encouraged to refrain from visiting ancestral graves and memorial facilities as much as possible by providing online services for memorial and grave visits, and nursing hospitals will implement a prior reservation system to disperse visitors. Contact visits are only allowed if both the hospitalized patient and the visitor have completed vaccination.
During the holiday period, public health center screening clinics and temporary screening clinics will operate without interruption, and COVID-19 treatment hospitals and residential treatment centers will operate continuously. Emergency medical institutions will maintain a 24-hour treatment system. Additionally, services providing information on operating hours of open hospitals and pharmacies will be offered.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will strengthen traffic safety and quarantine through the establishment of special traffic measures and operation of a task force. In preparation for the large-scale Chuseok movement, pre-safety inspections will be conducted on railway and aviation facilities, traffic volume will be dispersed to alleviate road congestion, and thorough quarantine will be enforced at highway rest areas, stations, and airports to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The Fire Agency will strengthen fire safety prevention activities and establish an emergency response posture to prevent accidents caused by fires during the Chuseok holiday. In addition, each ministry will establish and implement measures for safety at tourism and accommodation facilities (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism), gas and electrical safety (Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy), industrial accidents (Ministry of Employment and Labor), coastal passenger ships and fishing boats (Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries), food safety including ritual items (Ministry of Food and Drug Safety), and forest fires (Korea Forest Service).
Lee Seung-woo, Head of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters, said, "Considering the public’s fatigue, social distancing measures will be partially adjusted during this Chuseok, so this period could be a crisis for quarantine and safety management," and urged, "Please recheck preparedness for safety accidents in each sector along with preventing the spread of COVID-19 during the holiday period, and do not let your guard down in quarantine and disaster safety management until the end of the holiday."
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