Government on new coronavirus, “All hands on deck”

Dispatching more quarantine workers, health centers to focus on outbreak management

The Korean government body reported the Cheongwadae of pan-government response plan on the 2019 novel coronavirus after monitoring the current status of the outbreak.

 

Along with the plan, the government officials discussed of a plan evacuating Korean residents in Wuhan, China, and providing other humanitarian support for China.

 

At the Government Complex Seoul from 10:30 a.m.

 

on Jan.

 

30, Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) convened and President Moon Jae-in led a meeting on general countermeasure plan against the 2019 novel coronavirus, along with Deputy Prime Minister, related Ministers and 17 city and provincial leaders.

 

◆ Response status and pan-governmental support plan: At the meeting, the government officials first talked of the present status of response against the novel coronavirus outbreak and related pan-governmental support plan, and decided to put all efforts to block off inter-regional spread of the virus infection in Korea.

 

First off, the government has decided to place more government officers at the quarantine centers to thoroughly shut out the spread of infection.

 

Following the additional dispatch of 250 officers from MOHW, Ministry of National Defense (MND), Korean National Police Agency and others to quarantine centers nationwide including Incheon International Airport, MND has promptly dispatched 106 more officers to meet the needed reinforcements.

 

And depending on the progression of the spread home and abroad, the government leaders have decided to dispatch epidemiologist to affected cities and districts.

 

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) call center (1339) has increased the number of respondents from 19 to 329 to swiftly provide counseling and answer related questions from suspected case of the novel coronavirus.

 

KCDC also plans to arrange more epidemiologists around cities and districts.

 

Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) is also running a due diligence on overall 2,991 people traveled from Wuhan to Korea from Jan.

 

13 to 26.

 

The travelers are checked upon everyday by phone call, and isolated for further inspection if they show respiratory symptoms.

 

A child or school faculty returned from Hubei province, China, is refrained from coming to daycare center, kindergarten and school, but accordingly administrative measures like attendance processing are simultaneously executed.

 

Also workers, who visited Hubei province, are also temporarily removed from welfare facility with senior citizens and the disabled for 14 days.

 

The government plans to redirect public health center capacity to focus on special clinics for the outbreak and people who came in contact with infected people.

 

To better accommodate the outbreak management, regional health centers adjusted and lessened workload of general medical service and health promotion programs.

 

And regional emergency medical centers are to check visitors’ body temperature and to confirm infection of those with high fever in a separate special health center before they enter the hospital to minimize infection spreading within healthcare institutes.

 

At the moment, 18 Government Research Institutes of Public Health and Environment are testing the suspected cases as soon as possible, but other private healthcare institutes may run tests by themselves from early February.

 

Also the government has alleviated government support standard for medical professionals to judge the risk of infection at the field and quarantine and treat the suspected case immediately.

 

Meanwhile, the government bodies are to cooperate monitoring and imposing strict measures on unknown source of information with unauthorized use of the government body logo distributed to the public and creating confusion and anxiety.

 

◆ On safely evacuating and aiding Korean residents in Wuhan: Temporary flights are sent to Wuhan to evacuate Korean residents in Wuhan and close vicinity, if they want to be.

 

The temporary flights would be managed based on evacuation demand, and the government would finish up the related talks with the Chinese government soon.

 

The Korean residents are to be tested for infection before boarding the plane and after landing in Korea.

 

Dispatching government-led emergency response team, the Korean residents flying in from Wuhan would get an emergency flight support, quarantine testing, medical aid, and necessary supplies.

 

Korean government is also sending medical aid supplies to China struggling with the fast-spreading novel coronavirus as a humanitarian gesture.

 

As requested by Chinese government, Korean government is to review providing total of USD five million worth of supplies.

 

◆ Temporarily quarantined living quarter for returnees from Wuhan and local government reinforcements: Temporarily quarantined living quarter for Korean residents returning from Wuhan aims to protect both the returnees and local citizens.

 

The site was designated generally considering the facility to accommodate quarantined treatment and proximity to healthcare institute.

 

Each returnee is provided with a single room as a living quarter, but visitor access and exiting the facility would be strictly prohibited.

 

Individual supply of toiletry and bedding would be given to each returnee for sanitary reasons, and also their disposal wastes would be dealt with care.

 

Medical professionals would check their health status twice daily, and anyone showing symptoms at the facility would be immediately transferred to government-designated hospital for admission.

 

Support team consisting of various government officers would strictly manage the temporary living facilities to ensure safety and health of neighboring communities.

 

◆ Economic impact and response plan: The government announced all governmental capacity and effort would be centered on securing public safety and security and in minimizing economic impact until the risk of novel coronavirus completely subsides.

 

Also the impact, especially on the real economy in Korea, would be investigated closely and all capacity would be focused on minimizing the potential negative effect as much as possible.

 

Referring the previous cases of SARS in 2003 and MERS in 2015, the impact on economy would be thoroughly examined and analyzed by various scenarios, and necessary initiative would be proactively prepared to be initiated when needed.

 

And related budget would be allocated and spent on preemptive and watertight epidemic disinfection Total epidemic disinfection budget of 20.8 billion won, consisting of 6.7 billion won for responsive disinfection system, 2.5 billion won for quarantine and infection testing fee, and 2.9 billion won for quarantined treatment, already allocated for this year would be spent to assertively back up the preemptive epidemic disinfection.

 

The government has announced two trillion won, initially allocated as contingency budget for this year, would be used if the secured budget is insufficient.