Lessons from MERS help Gangnam District respond to COVID-19

Residents arrive at the Gangnam District's COVID-19 testing center from Incheon International Airport on April 2. Courtesy of Gangnam District Office

By Kim Se-jeong

Jung Soon-kyun, head of the Gangnam District Office in Seoul, said his office's response to the COVID-19 outbreak was helped by infectious disease manual developed after the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak.

South Korea saw the largest outbreak outside the Middle East, with 186 cases and 36 fatalities. Samsung Medical Center, which is located in Gangnam District, was the main facility affected by the virus.

"Going through the MERS outbreak, the district government learned to build up an infectious disease response manual and store the necessary equipment," Jung said in an interview with The Korea Times on Monday. Gangnam District's health center created a negative-pressure treatment facility within it after the MERS outbreak.

As of Wednesday morning, the district has 62 confirmed COVID-19 infections with 1,402 under self-quarantine. Seoul has recorded more than 628 cases as of Wednesday morning.

According to the manual, the top priority is early testing and Jung is trying to respect that rule as much as possible.

Jung Soon-kyun, head of the Gangnam District Office in Seoul, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times in his office Monday. Courtesy of Gangnam District Office

"We are trying to respect infectious disease response manuals which prioritize early detection and testing," Jung said.

Gangnam's first case was reported Feb. 26. "The patient was living in an apartment and we had all residents in that apartment building tested for the virus."

Since Feb. 26, the district has tested more than 10,000 people. "This number is probably be the highest outside Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province."

The district government has kept its health center open 24/7. There, six doctors and other staff are on standby to conduct COVID-19 tests at any time of the day or night. The health center, together with two other private medical centers, are the designated test centers in the district.

The district government is also giving the COVID-19 test to anyone, even to those who don't reside in Gangnam District. Usually, the test is available only for those who have a doctor's letter, but people who go to the Gangnam health center can have the test after consulting with one of the six doctors on duty.

Early testing is only one of many response measures implemented by Gangnam. Keeping potential virus carriers isolated is another important response and Jung is mobilizing human resources from the district office to achieve it.

"Now, the biggest potential virus carriers are the people who return to Korea from abroad," the head said.

Gangnam hired a limousine company to pick up district residents from Incheon International Airport and bring them to the health center. Residents inform the district government of their itineraries in advance which helps with the organization of transport.

After the testing at the Gangnam District, residents are transported home by ambulance, again paid for by the government. "We need to keep them from coming into contact with other people," Jung said.

Now, all arrivals are required to isolate themselves for two weeks when they arrive home.

By the time these people arrive home to start self-quarantine, their places of residence have been disinfected and equipped with personal hygiene products, a free service provided by the district office.

During the next 14 days, the district government officials call and visit them every day ― 1,000 district officials were called in to do this task, with each assigned to two people on average. As of Monday, 1,402 Gangnam District residents are under self-quarantine.

For those who do not have the COVID-19 self-quarantine app, the officials call four times and visit their quarantine locations twice a day. For those who have the app, they call twice and visit once. Sometimes, officials, together with local police, make an unexpected visit to those under self-quarantine to make sure they're home. For those who leave their homes, the police search and bring them back home.

When a laboratory in Seoul sends the test result, district officials send text messages to every relevant residents with the test results.

Jung thanked his colleagues. "The district government officials are really dedicated to their work. Without their dedication, these measures would not be possible," he said.

Keeping infectious clusters under control is also important.

The district office has been testing elderly care facility patients and employees on a weekly basis. It is also running inspections on clubs, bars, room salons, places of worship and cram schools in the district.

As for churches and cram schools, Jung said he had no plan to give shutdown orders saying that the strict inspections are enough job to keep the places safe.

The response from Gangnam's district government is also important to keep the rest of Seoul safe from the virus.

"Gangnam's population is 500,000, the biggest among 25 districts. More than one million people come and leave the district every day and 1.8 million vehicles move in and out of the district daily," Jung said.

Jung said the fact that test results can be processed in six to seven hours is a huge improvement from the MERS outbreak.

"During the MERS outbreak, only one laboratory in Osong, South Chungcheong Province, was permitted to test samples which delayed the quarantine process. However, now, we take our samples to a laboratory in Dongdaemun District and the result comes quickly."

As the virus keeps people home, the district government is getting creative to offer entertainment to residents. Among them, a K-pop dance video is receiving good reviews.

With the help of three idol groups ― D-Crunch, Newkidd and Girls in the Park ― the district office made "K-pop Home Care," a free K-pop dance video, "for school children who can't go outside relieve stress." Since it's release on April 8, it drew almost 24,000 viewers. "We also made this video available in Chinese and English. We are planning to make more dance videos."

Other than the K-pop dance video, the district made an online weaving lesson, online English education programs and e-book services. Also, it gave all district residents free access to cable channel VOD contents.

"As social distancing gets prolonged, more people get bored and depressed. And this is our job to entertain them so that they can relieve their boredom and feelings of depression," Jung said. "To people under self-quarantine, we've been sending potted flowers."

Jung said the spread of infectious diseases are likely to become more frequent.

"Given the changes in climate and environment, I believe humanity will face infectious diseases more frequently. The MERS outbreak was only five years ago," he said, adding "To prepare for this, the district office is planning to open an infectious disease center."

He said small businesses and K-pop―related businesses are among the hardest hit by the pandemic and the government is devising whatever support it can offer to them.

When asked about the dominant changes brought about by COVID-19, he said it will bring permanent changes in how people view personal hygiene.

"I imagine wearing masks in public places will become the new norm. The pandemic taught a hard lesson to people," he said.