Goheung-gun Resumes Payment of Living Support Allowance for COVID-19 Hospitalized and Isolated Patients

Supplementary Budget of 1.32 Billion Won Allocated, Sequential Payments Starting March 25

[Goheung=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shim Jeong-woo] Goheung-gun, Jeollanam-do announced that it is sequentially paying the COVID-19 inpatient and quarantine living support funds, which had been suspended due to a sharp increase in confirmed COVID-19 cases at the end of last year, using the 1.32 billion KRW budget allocated in the first supplementary budget.

According to the "Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act," the support is provided to residents who received a notice of hospitalization or quarantine due to COVID-19. Previously, the amount varied depending on the number of quarantined individuals in the household and the quarantine period, but from March 16, 2022, the payment method changed to a fixed amount of 100,000 KRW if there is one quarantined person in the household, and 150,000 KRW if there are two or more, regardless of the quarantine period.

Applicants must apply to the eup/myeon office (Customized Welfare Team) of their residence within three months from the quarantine release date.

Those excluded from support include ▲ persons who received paid leave ▲ public institution workers ▲ overseas entrants in quarantine ▲ violators of quarantine and prevention rules.

Goheung-gun paid 79 million KRW for 114 cases in 2020, 731 million KRW for 1,063 cases in 2021, and 487 million KRW for 785 cases until February 2022 as COVID-19 quarantine living support funds. For March, preparations are underway to pay about 575 million KRW for 1,972 cases.

A county official stated, “Since January this year, we assigned dedicated public officials to the county to quickly support the living support funds, but due to the recent surge in confirmed cases, applications have flooded in, delaying the appropriateness review needed to verify eligibility, such as checking health insurance workplace enrollment and applying changes in government guidelines.”

Goheung=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Shim Jeong-woo sevenshim@asiae.co.kr