Suwon City: "Enjoy a Happy and Safe Lunar New Year Holiday"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] The second Lunar New Year holiday since the first confirmed COVID-19 case in Korea on January 20, 2020 is approaching. We look at the contents of the "Comprehensive Holiday Measures for Lunar New Year" prepared by Suwon City to ensure citizens can spend the holiday period comfortably and safely.

◆Know which hospitals and health centers are available in your neighborhood

Suwon City announced that screening clinics at health centers in all four districts will operate from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for four days from the 11th to the 14th without holiday closures.

Reservations are necessary for visits for testing. Temporary screening clinics that can be used by anyone without reservations will operate the same as existing holiday hours.

Temporary screening clinics established at each district health center and Suwon Station conduct tests from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., so if deemed necessary, visitors should arrive in the morning.

In particular, general clinics and private practices do not operate during the holidays, so it is advisable to know in advance which hospitals and pharmacies can be visited in case of emergencies.

General hospitals and emergency rooms operating 24 hours throughout the holiday in Suwon include Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Suwon Hospital in Jangan-gu, Suyeo Women's Hospital and Suwon Central Hospital in Gwonseon-gu, St. Vincent's Hospital, Dong Suwon Hospital, and Su Hospital in Paldal-gu, and Ajou University Hospital in Yeongtong-gu—seven facilities in total.

For general outpatient care, ▲Jangan-gu: Medi365plus Clinic, Skylight Family Medicine Clinic ▲Gwonseon-gu: Easy Clinic, Suyeo Women's Hospital, Sainte Marie Women's Hospital, Shin Hospital ▲Paldal-gu: Wells Memorial Hospital, Baekseong Hospital, Lee Chun-taek Hospital, Hansarang Internal Medicine Clinic ▲Yeongtong-gu: 365 Healing Clinic, Yeongtong Veterinary Clinic, Gwanggyo 365 Medical Clinic are scheduled to operate on Lunar New Year's Day as well. However, changes are possible, so it is advisable to confirm before visiting.

Emergency medical facilities and pharmacies during the holiday can be found at the Emergency Medical Portal (www.e-gen.or.kr).

◆Visit ancestral graves by reservation or use online memorial service

Suwon Yeonhwajang will implement a reservation system and online memorial service, just as it did during Chuseok last year, to prevent COVID-19 spread and ensure safe visits through visitor distribution.

Accordingly, the memorial hall is available for visiting by reservation from January 29 to February 28—31 days including the period before and after Lunar New Year—for the entire period.

Reservations are accepted from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for families of up to four people, allowing a maximum of 450 families or 1,800 people to visit daily.

Visitors who arrive at their reserved time use the memorial hall for about 30 minutes per family, followed by 30 minutes of disinfection and ventilation for the next visitors.

Advance reservations are accepted only online through the Yeonhwajang website, and phone consultations are also available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on weekdays for those unfamiliar with internet use.

Outdoor facilities such as the ossuary and natural burial grounds operate normally while observing quarantine rules. To maintain distance between visitors, ritual ceremonies and food consumption are prohibited, and all visitors must follow guidelines including wearing masks, completing visitor logs, and checking body temperature.

In particular, parking shortages are expected due to facility improvement work at Yeonhwajang during this period, so visitor vehicles will be controlled. During the holidays, nearby public parking lots that are open free of charge should be used.

Meanwhile, bereaved families who postpone or skip grave visits can use the online memorial service by accessing the 'e-Haneul Funeral Information System.' The service has improved meal arrangement features, and a new service has been introduced allowing users to record memorial messages and videos and share them with family through social media.

A city sanitation official said, "We ask people to refrain from memorial and grave-visiting activities during the Lunar New Year holiday if possible, and if you must visit Yeonhwajang, please cooperate in following quarantine rules to prevent infection."

◆Cleaning measures to create a clean and pleasant Suwon City

Suwon City has established and implemented comprehensive cleaning measures to ensure citizens can spend the Lunar New Year holiday in a clean and pleasant urban environment.

First, residential waste such as incinerable items, food scraps, and recyclables that are closely related to citizens' daily lives will be collected normally on the 11th and 14th. However, on the 12th and Saturday the 13th, collection will not occur due to contractor holidays. Therefore, to maintain cleanliness during the holiday, residents should not dispose of residential waste for two days starting on Lunar New Year's Day.

In addition, cleaning mobile teams will operate during the holidays to conduct focused patrol cleaning of major trunk roads, multi-use facilities, vulnerable areas, and areas with complaints, while road-kill animal disposal will be handled by specialized contractors to minimize inconvenience to citizens.

In particular, the city and four districts will jointly operate five cleaning teams of 10 people each daily for the four-holiday days, receiving and processing various cleaning complaints to ensure comprehensive cleaning administration.

Additionally, the city has designated February 2-15 as an intensive pre-holiday cleaning period, concentrating personnel and equipment at Suwon Station, terminals, Hwaseong Haenggung, multi-use facilities, and streets for focused cleaning of accumulated trash and debris.

The city also plans to reduce inconvenience by having specialized contractors separately incinerate residential waste from the Election Training Center, a temporary self-isolation facility for COVID-19 cases, and medical waste from the Youth Hostel, a temporary accommodation facility for confirmed COVID-19 patients.

A city sanitation and resources official said, "This year, after consulting with resident support councils, we plan to strongly enforce restrictions on material recovery facility intake for areas and collection vehicles with illegal dumping and non-standard waste bags, so we request the cooperation and attention of residents."

◆So all Suwon citizens can have a warm holiday

Customized measures have been prepared so that those in difficult circumstances can have a warmer Lunar New Year holiday.

First, a free meal service to provide homeless individuals with warm meals will be operated at Jeong-Nanumteo, located at Suwon Station Plaza. Four local religious organizations will provide 120 to 200 meals from the 11th to the 14th while observing quarantine rules.

On Lunar New Year's Day, the 12th, breakfast, lunch, and dinner will all be provided. Additionally, meal provision will expand to include residents of homeless self-reliance facilities, with holiday food and gift packages also provided.

For children at risk of missing meals during the period before and after the holiday when existing meal services are not provided, the city will guide them to operating restaurants and convenience stores. By strengthening private-public networks, the city will actively identify children in need of support and, by connecting with nearby neighbors, will provide pre-prepared side dishes to ensure children do not go hungry.

Additionally, a wage arrears encouragement team will operate until the 15th to ensure workers receive unpaid wages owed to them.

Local price stabilization is also a major concern. The city has selected 16 Lunar New Year specialty products, including items frequently used by citizens, as special management items and will focus on price monitoring and cracking down on unfair practices to stabilize local prices. The targeted items include Chinese cabbage, radish, apples, pears, chestnuts, jujubes, pork, chicken, beef, eggs, pollock, squid, cutlassfish, mackerel, croaker, and dried anchovy.

Additionally, to support small business owners facing difficulties due to COVID-19 spread, the city will increase the Suwon Pay recharge limit to 500,000 won for the month of February and provide incentives to promote usage.

◆Lunar New Year holiday—how about visiting quiet museums and tourist sites in Suwon City?

This year, the social distancing level during the Lunar New Year holiday is expected to remain unchanged. While there is a possibility of easing depending on confirmed case trends, currently the 2.5 level in the Seoul metropolitan area has been extended until February 14, prohibiting private gatherings of five or more people.

It is also difficult for direct family members with different residences to gather if there are five or more people. To accelerate the return to daily life, it is necessary to observe quarantine rules and spend the holiday near home.

Suwon City has museums and art galleries, as well as tourist sites centered on Hwaseong Haenggung, which can be visited during quiet times.

At Suwon Museum, the special exhibition "Five Hundred Ri of Western Wind—500 Years of Joseon Calligraphy" features 106 pieces of Joseon calligraphy artifacts including royal brushwork by Kings Yeongjo and Jeongjo. At Suwon Gwanggyo Museum, "Welcome to the Year of the Ox" offers images of folk items, legends, and proverbs related to cattle. At Suwon Hwaseong Museum, "Yongjusa, the Original Temple of Fusion Royal Tombs in Suwon Hwasan" awaits with 80 artifacts related to Yongjusa. All three operate from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and are free during the holidays. However, visitor capacity is limited to 30% or fewer, with 40 people per time slot. Commentary, educational, and experiential programs will not be offered.

Art museums are also open. "Contemporary Art Exhibition 2021" at Suwon Ipark Museum of Art, "Mimi" at Suwon Art Gallery, and individual exhibitions by Gyeonggi artists at ArtSpace Gwanggyo are available. Art museums have capacity limits per session, so advance online reservation through their homepages is essential.

Hwaseong Haenggung operates daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and admission is free on the 12th. The tourism information center connected to Hwaseong Haenggung and souvenir shops are open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.