보건복지부 영문홈페이지

Regular Briefing of Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on COVID-19

- ▲Supply and demand management of medical infection control products, and ▲supply and demand of masks, etc. -

□ The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters held a meeting presided over by Head Chung Sekyun (Prime Minister) along with the central government and 17 cities and provinces to discuss ▲supply and demand management direction of medical infection control products, and ▲supply and demand of masks, and other agenda at an emergency situation room located on the 1st floor of Government Seoul Complex.

□ At the meeting, Head Chung directed relevant ministries to take necessary measures promptly as possible to manage the supply and demand to make sure that medical infection control supplies are not insufficient which are essential to maintaining safety and competency of medical workers.

 ○ He also requested to expand efforts some local governments has made to produce and distribute alternative masks, including cotton ones, to all parts of the nation as part of the policy on public mask distribution.

1. Supply and demand management direction of medical infection control products

□ The government decided to develop a strategic supply and demand management plan* for medical infection control products.

  * ① Support for expanding domestic production, ② continuously procuring and stocking up on such quarantine products

 ○ This measure comes amid a situation the demand for medical infection control supplies is expected to significantly grow in each country with the prolonged COVID-19 and declaration of the pandemic.

□ First, the government provides supports to expand the domestic production of quarantine product manufacturers, eliminating overseas uncertainty and securing stable supply base.

 ○ It plans to gradually shift structure of producing protective clothing and other supplies from overseas toll processing to domestic one, creating jobs in the country in relation to the processing.

 ○ The government also plans to enhance production capacity and product competitiveness through R&D support, and management and financial consulting for quarantine product manufacturers.

□ In addition to this, it will create stable domestic demand and invigorate the relevant industry by continuously procuring and stocking up on the quarantine supplies.

 ○ It will continue contract relationship with domestic medical infection control suppliers in forms of regularly procuring and stockpiling such products every year, which can lead to an increase in production if needed.

□ In the meantime, the government plans to ensure medical staff is well protected by smoothly supplying short-term quarantine supplies.

 ○ First, the government plans to secure 1.8 million protective clothing (level D), 2 million protective masks (N95), and more in March.

 ○ After April, it is expected to secure more than 2.5 million protective clothing and 3 million protective masks by supporting domestic providers.

 ○ After meeting the required amount by the end of May, the government will encourage more production and import of such items to secure and maintain the level of 1 million protective clothing (level D).

2. Special Entry Procedure expanding to all inbound travelers from Europe

□ The government announced that it will expand the Special Entry Procedure for Europe from March 16 which was applied to the flights departing from 6 European countries (including transit in Dubai, Moscow) to all Korean and foreign travelers from all European countries (including transit in Dubai and other nations) in response to the global pandemic of COVID-19.

< Expansion of Special Entry Procedure >

Current (11 nations)	Expanded (To be applied from 00:00, March 16)
(Asia) China (Feb. 4~), Hong Kong, Macao (Feb. 12~), Japan (Mar. 9~), Iran (Mar. 12~) (Europe) Italy (Mar. 12~), France, Germany, Spain, UK, Netherlands (Mar. 15~)	5 Asian nations (China, Hong Kong, Macao, Japan, Iran) + Expanded to all flights departing from Europe ※ The same to be applied to travelers having arrived via Dubai and other countries

 

 ○ This measure is designed to block inflow of overseas risk factors into Korea as much as it can in consideration of the recent COVID-19 outbreak and transmission speed in Europe and quarantine results* of inbound travelers.

    * (Quarantine inspection results of inbound travelers from Europe) 1 confirmed case on March 13, 3 cases on March 14

□ The Special Entry Procedure blocks travelers with symptoms at the point of entering the country through enhanced quarantine procedure such as checking submitted health questionnaires and temperature. It also protects inbound travelers and prevents the inflow of overseas risk factors by making those without symptoms install Self-Diagnosis Mobile App which enables the authorities to manage and keep track of them.
 
 ○ As of 00:00, March 16, samples of 76 travelers (71 Koreans) were collected and underwent diagnostic tests as a result of conducting quarantine tests of 1,391 special immigrants departing from Europe.

 ○ Those without any symptom had their domestic contact information checked and were guided to self-diagnose suspected symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat and enter the results every day for 14 consecutive days through Self-Diagnosis Mobile App.

 ○ These measures help detect infection of travelers at an early stage, which can protect immigrants and effectively prevent the infectious disease from spreading to the communities.

3.  Current status of and future plan for community treatment center

□ The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters said that a total of 2,620 patients* in mild conditions are admitted to 16 community treatment centers (called living treatment centers) in total as of 8:00 am, March 15.
 
  * No. of currently admitted patients ① Daegu 1 (National Education Training Institute) 125 patients, ② Daegu 2 (Kyungpook National University dormitories) 284 patients, ③ Gyeongbuk Daegu 1 (Samsung HRD Center) 195 patients, ④ Gyeongbuk Daegu 2 (Nonghyup Training Institute) 197 patients, ⑤ Gyeongbuk Daegu 3 (SNUH HRD Center) 97 patients, ⑥ Gyeongbuk Daegu 4 (Hanti Archdiocese of Daegu Retreat Center) 62 patients, ⑦ Gyeongbuk Daegu 5 (Daegu Bank Training Center) 38 patients, ⑧ Gyeongbuk Daegu 7 (LG Display dormitories) 290 patients, ⑨ Gyeongbuk Daegu 8 (Hyundai Motor Training Institute) 254 patients, ⑩ Gyeongbuk 1 (KOSME Daegu·Gyeongbuk Training Institute) 55 patients, ⑪ Chungnam Daegu 1 (Korea Post Officials Training Institute) 253 patients, ⑫ Chungbuk Daegu 1 (NHIS HRD Center) 96 patients, ⑬ Chungbuk Daegu 2 (NPS Cheongpung Resort) 141 patients, ⑭ Chungbuk Daegu 3 (IBK Training Center) 179 patients, ⑮ Chungbuk Daegu 4 (Social Service Corps Training Center) 201 patients, ⑯ Jeonbuk Daegu 1(Samsung Life Jeonju Training Institute) 166 patients

 ○ The diagnostic tests conducted on March 15 showed negative for 2 consecutive times, so 196 patients were fully recovered and released, making a total of 403 have been cured and discharged from the living treatment centers

   - 2 patients admitted to the centers who had aggravated symptoms of pneumonia and respiratory difficulty were referred to neighboring hospitals, which makes a total of 43 get transferred to hospitals for intensive care.

 ○ In particular, the authorities announced that it will introduce "data-based smart monitoring system" that can store and manage body temperature, blood pressure, and data monitoring information of mild patients admitted to the community treatment centers in real time.

   - Real-time integrated monitoring is made possible by adopting a mobile application (inPHR) developed by a private company.

    * It is currently in use at Gyeongbuk Daegu 2 Center (Korea University Medicine) and Gyeongbuk Daegu 7 Center (Gangwon National University Hospital)
      ※ Gyeongbuk Daegu 1 Center (Samsung Medical Center): Using Google Docs (Google Questionnaire)

   - This is a service that enables patients to conveniently input information such as temperature through this application, and medical staff in the centers to easily see health information of all patients through a dashboard.

   - It is designed to minimize contacts between patients and medical staff and systematically monitor patients in the centers.

 ○ In addition, Bagae Hospital in Pyeongtaek, Hanyang University Medical Center in Seoul, and Severance Hospital in Sinchon plan to newly join the efforts as cooperating hospitals, dispatch medical workers, and provide stable and professional medical services for Gyeongbuk Daegu 5 Center (Daegu Bank Training Center in Chilgok), Jeonbuk Daegu 1 Center (Samsung Life Training Institute in Gimje), and Chungbuk Daegu 4 Center (Social Service Corps Training Center in Boeun), respectively.

   ※ (Already participating hospitals) Kyungpook National University Hospital, Samsung Medical Center, Korea University Medicine, Seoul National University Hospital, Catholic University of Korea Seoul, Soonchunhyang University Hospital Bucheon, Incheon Hallym Hospital, Ilsan Hospital, Gangwon National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center, Gachon University Gil Medical Center, etc.

  - The Headquarters designated and ran cooperating hospitals to each center, while dispatching public health doctors and nurses recruited. Currently, 409 medical staff including 120 doctors and 255 nurses (nursing assistants) are assigned and provide medical services in the centers.
 
□ In addition, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters announced that it has bolstered infection prevention and safety management by taking measures to ensure all workers dispatched for operation and support of the treatment centers have diagnostic tests before being released.
 

4. Supply and demand of masks
※ Refer to a separate briefing for this information. In case of any query, contact to the following information:

Affiliation	Division	Contact Information
Ministry of Economy and Finance	Economic Policy Division	044-215-2710, 2712
	Price Policy Division	044-215-2770, 2771
Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy	Bio-Convergence Industry Division	044-203-4390, 4391
Public Procurement Service	Procurement Planning Division	042-724-7210, 7265
Ministry of Food and Drug Safety	Customer Risk Prevention Policy Division	043-719-1711, 1722

 

※ All Koreans faced with issues regarding exorbitant prices of or hoarding masks and hand sanitizers are strongly advised to actively report to the authorities through the reporting center (02-2640-5057/5080/5087), customer call center (1372), and MFDS website (www.mfds.go.kr).