Jinju City Establishes Comprehensive Plan for COVID-19 Response During Lunar New Year Holiday

Maintaining 24-Hour Response Posture, Preventing COVID-19 Spread, Preparing for Safety Accidents

Jinju City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Jinju City in Gyeongnam has established and announced a ‘Comprehensive Plan for the Lunar New Year Holiday’ focusing on citizen safety and infectious disease spread response.

Jinju City will operate a Disaster Safety Countermeasures Headquarters from January 29 to February 2, the Lunar New Year holiday period, to prevent the local spread of COVID-19. To prevent incidents and accidents and resolve citizen inconveniences, they plan to organize a comprehensive situation room and on-site civil complaint response teams.

To maintain the quarantine system, a 24-hour work posture will be maintained. The comprehensive situation room will have 80 personnel across six sectors, including a general support team, and the on-site civil complaint response teams will have 113 personnel across eight sectors, including a mobile garbage cleaning team.

This comprehensive plan includes seven promotion areas and detailed plans: ▲Special measures to prevent COVID-19 spread ▲Prevention of incidents and accidents ▲Price stabilization ▲Resolution of resident inconveniences ▲Creating a frugal and quiet holiday atmosphere, among others.

The city encourages small-scale hometown visits after completing COVID-19 vaccinations and will actively promote core quarantine rules and the ban on private gatherings of seven or more people during hometown visits.

Additionally, disinfection and quarantine inspections will be strengthened at key management facilities and multi-use facilities expected to see an increase in visitors, with active enforcement of quarantine rule compliance through inspection teams.

Jinju City will conduct safety inspections of disaster-vulnerable facilities and traffic safety facilities in preparation for various incidents and accidents during the Lunar New Year holiday. Measures to block ASF, foot-and-mouth disease, and avian influenza, as well as prevention of snow damage, forest fires, and environmental pollution, will be implemented concurrently.

From January 6 to February 2, a comprehensive price countermeasures situation room will operate to monitor the stabilization of prices for essential goods and ensure smooth supply. Campaigns promoting traditional market use and discounted sales of Lunar New Year seasonal products will be held to revitalize the local economy.

To minimize citizen inconvenience during the holiday, on-site civil complaint response teams will handle road inconvenience complaints, emergency water pipe leak repairs, timely collection of household waste, and other complaints immediately. For stable gas supply, LPG sales points will operate on a rotation basis.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, visits to the Anrak Park Memorial Hall will require prior reservations. The free shuttle bus service to Naedong Park Cemetery, which was suspended last year, will also not operate during this year’s Lunar New Year holiday.

Fifty emergency medical institutions and emergency clinics, along with 125 pharmacies, will be designated to minimize medical service gaps. The public health center’s screening clinic will operate continuously for proactive COVID-19 response. However, health clinics will be closed during the holiday due to their focus on COVID-19 duties.

Furthermore, various organizations and groups will cooperate to conduct consolation activities for social welfare facilities and marginalized groups. Public service discipline inspections will also be conducted to eradicate misconduct such as duty violations and bribery.

Jinju Mayor Cho Gyu-il stated, “We will do our best to ensure that all citizens can have a healthy and comfortable holiday through the implementation of the comprehensive plan for the Lunar New Year holiday,” and added, “We ask that people refrain from traveling to visit hometown relatives and adhere to personal quarantine rules.”