Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan to Jointly Respond to COVID-19

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan cities have joined hands to respond to COVID-19.

On the 3rd, Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan cities signed a "business agreement for joint response to infectious diseases among Sansuwa cities" at the Hwaseong City Hall situation room. Following the agreement, the "Sansuwa (Osan, Suwon, Hwaseong) Joint Infectious Disease Council" was launched.

Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young, Hwaseong Mayor Seo Chul-mo, and Osan Mayor Kwak Sang-wook attended the signing ceremony.

The three municipalities established a close cooperation system by establishing a "hotline" in preparation for infectious disease outbreaks and decided to implement joint quarantine measures based on human and material support.

They also decided to disclose information related to COVID-19 quickly and transparently. Information disclosure will follow principles including ▲notifying initial confirmed cases via disaster text messages ▲disclosing confirmed case routes through each municipality's homepage and SNS ▲sharing advance information of routes linked with adjacent local governments before announcing.

Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan cities are in the same living area with frequent movement of residents, making joint response to COVID-19 imperative. Recently, it was confirmed that confirmed cases from Osan City and Hwaseong City visited Suwon City.

Mayor Yeom Tae-young proposed to Osan Mayor Kwak Sang-wook and Hwaseong Mayor Seo Chul-mo, "Let's jointly respond to infectious diseases based on solidarity and cooperation," and both mayors readily agreed. On March 1st, Mayor Yeom Tae-young and the three cities' COVID-19 response officials met at Suwon City Hall for working-level consultations and coordinated the agreement matters.

The three municipalities expect that joint response will lead to more efficient handling of COVID-19.

Mayor Yeom Tae-young said, "If Suwon, Hwaseong, and Osan cities with the same living area jointly respond to infectious diseases and jointly announce information related to confirmed cases to the public, it will be helpful to citizens" and added, "I will make this agreement a turning point in joint infectious disease response among municipalities."

Osan Mayor Kwak Sang-wook said, "To overcome COVID-19, the role of local governments is important as well as the central government" and "To ensure citizens' safety, we will mobilize not only cooperation among the three cities but also all available means and methods that can be implemented by local governments."