Seongnam City in Gyeonggi Province has launched a campaign to exterminate bedbugs.
On the 17th, Seongnam City announced that it has designated the period until the 7th of next month as the "Bedbug Intensive Inspection and Control Period" and will conduct hygiene inspections targeting a total of 374 locations, including 324 lodging businesses and 50 bathhouses.
To this end, Seongnam City formed a bedbug inspection team consisting of 16 members, including 8 city and district office officials and 8 honorary public hygiene monitors. The inspection team visits each establishment in pairs to check for the presence of bedbugs and to examine disinfection and cleanliness conditions.
The inspections also cover whether disinfection is conducted at least once a month, whether bedding such as mattresses, blankets, and pillows, as well as towels, are washed after each individual use, and whether dressing rooms, wardrobes, and bath areas are cleaned at least once.
If violations that can be corrected immediately are found, on-site guidance is provided, and serious violations will be subject to administrative measures such as fines according to the Public Hygiene Control Act.
Additionally, self-inspection checklists and bedbug information leaflets are distributed to help establishments manage themselves voluntarily.
A bedbug suspicion reporting window has also been established and is in operation.
If bedbugs are found, reporting can be made by phone to the quarantine departments of the three district health centers (Sujeong · 031-729-3306, Jungwon · 031-729-8980, Bundang · 031-729-3617), where guidance on professional bedbug control and disinfection companies and control methods will be provided.
A Seongnam City official stated, "In lodging and bathhouse businesses, bedding, towels, and gowns that are easily inhabited by bedbugs are shared by many unspecified people, raising concerns about the spread of bedbugs," adding, "To prevent this, we are strengthening hygiene inspections."
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