Mayor Yum Tae-young: "We Will Mobilize All Community Resources to Prepare for the Worst-Case Scenario"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Suh Dong-young] Suwon Mayor Yum Tae-young said, "Community transmission of COVID-19 has become a reality. We will review and revise our management and control methods."

On the 21st, Mayor Yum presided over the "COVID-19 Response Interagency Cooperation Meeting" held at the Suwon City Hall Disaster Safety Situation Room and stated, "Now that cluster infections have begun, we face a grave situation unlike any we have experienced before. We must shift our COVID-19 response approach, which has focused on blocking the virus, to 'early detection of infected persons followed by rapid isolation and treatment,'" he emphasized.

The meeting was attended by First Vice Mayor Cho Chung-sik, Second Vice Mayor Cho Moo-young, Suwon City Council Speaker Cho Myung-ja, officials from large hospitals including Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Suwon Hospital, Mediaforum members, and officials from fire departments, police, the Suwon Office of Education, and military units (51st Division) to discuss countermeasures against community spread of COVID-19.

Mayor Yum said, "If infectious diseases spread in the community and hospital infections occur, emergency rooms could close and the emergency medical system could collapse. We must strengthen screening clinics to prevent the existing medical system from collapsing and prepare for situations where confirmed cases surge explosively."

He continued, "In preparation for a surge in confirmed cases, check hospital beds in advance," and added, "Mobilize all community resources to prepare for the worst-case scenario."

Mayor Yum Tae-young also stated, "There are religious groups conducting 'street evangelism' in areas with heavy foot traffic such as around Suwon Station. Send official notices to all religious organizations in the city requesting a strong stop to 'street evangelism.'"

Meanwhile, according to "Shincheonji Suwon Church," none of its members attended services at the Daegu church. The city plans to intensively manage members once it obtains a list of Shincheonji members active in the city from the government.

Officials from the relevant agencies attending the meeting pledged, "We will actively cooperate with the city's COVID-19 response."

The Suwon Seobu Police Station, which currently provides security support for the temporary residential facility (Suwon Youth Hostel), said, "If the city requests enhanced security around the facility, we will provide additional police resources." The Army 51st Division said, "If there is a shortage of civilian medical personnel, we will provide military physicians."

The fire department said, "We self-isolate firefighters who transported suspected patients for a certain period of time, but we lack isolation space," requesting support for isolation facilities. The Suwon Office of Education requested support, stating, "Schools are having difficulty obtaining masks and hand sanitizers."

Kim Ji-hoon, president of the Suwon Medical Association, said, "These days there are many complaints about hospitals refusing treatment, but this is not refusal of care but guidance of patients with COVID-19 symptoms to screening clinics. Please cooperate so that suspected COVID-19 patients can be transported by health center ambulances."

An official from Ajou University Hospital said, "On the 20th, a suspected COVID-19 patient was transported to the emergency room. After consideration, we determined that 'over-response' was better and closed the emergency room until test results were available. If similar situations occur again, we will close the emergency room but continue operating the hospital to ensure there is no disruption to medical care."