Do Je-hae edits news stories as part of the AI team.
Politicians rush to volunteer for street disinfection - in vain
Hwang Kyo-ahn, chairman of the United Future Party, disinfects a street in Jongno-gu, Seoul, on March 8. Yonhap
By Do Je-hae
By Do Je-hae
Street disinfection has emerged as a common campaigning method for some politicians who are aiming to appeal to the public with their active contribution to the national fight against COVID-19 ahead of the April 15 general election.
United Future Party (UFP) Chairman Hwang Kyo-ahn has been volunteering to sterilize some parts of the Jongno District, specifically in the central Seoul constituency where he is running.
Hwang, a former prime minister of the conservative Park Geun-hye administration, has been carrying around disinfection equipment during the morning and evening hours in Jongno. He has done this regularly since the virus began to raise serious public health concerns here Feb. 25, according to his election camp. His Facebook is plastered with photos of him disinfecting the streets of the district and mingling with residents there. “For a long time, our economy has been shaky, and the virus has dealt a fatal blow,” Hwang wrote in a recent post.
His rival, former Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon under the Moon Jae-in government, who is running in the district on the ruling Democratic Party of Korea's (DPK) ticket, has also joined in the work.
Lee conducted disinfection activities around care facilities for children and the elderly, Wednesday. He has been leading his party's committee on responses to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Other politicians who have also been seen disinfecting the streets include former presidential spokeswoman Ko Min-jung, a DPK candidate for a district in Gwangjin, Seoul; Rep. Na Kyung-won, former floor leader of the Liberty Korea Party, now a part of the UFP, who is competing in a Dongjak District constituency; and Yun Kun-young, former director of national planning at Cheong Wa Dae who is bidding for a district in Guro.
However, their efforts may not be that helpful in containing the virus.
Some experts have pointed out that disinfecting outdoors by spraying disinfectant is not very effective, and could have adverse effects.
“Spraying disinfectant has a low effect as it does not target specific, contaminated areas; rather, it could spread a virus on the surface (of object) more in the form of aerosol. So it is discouraged in quarantine guidelines,” Jung Eun-kyeong, head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said in a recent press briefing.
“It is more important to disinfect or wipe the areas that can be touched by people's hands in indoor areas rather than outdoor sterilization such as street disinfection,” she said.