Look: South Korea's high-tech new front in COVID-19 battle

The advanced facilities offer protection from monsoon rains, summer heat, and coronavirus

Published: August 12, 2020 19:32 AFP and Compiled by Christian Borbon, Senior Web Editor

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South Korea has opened a high-tech new front in the battle against coronavirus, fortifying bus shelters with temperature-checking doors and ultraviolet disinfection lamps. Image Credit: AFP

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Ten advanced facilities have been installed in a northeastern district of Seoul, offering protection from monsoon rains, summer heat, and the novel coronavirus. Image Credit: AFP

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To enter, passengers must stand in front of an automated thermal-imaging camera, and the door will only slide open if their temperature is below 37.5 degrees Celsius (99.5 Fahrenheit). A separate camera is installed lower down to test children. Image Credit: AFP

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Inside the glass-walled booths - which cost about 100 million won ($84,000) each - the air-conditioning systems have ultraviolet lamps installed to kill viruses at the same time as cooling the air. A dispenser provides hand sanitiser, and users are advised to wear face masks at all times, while keeping at least one metre apart from others. Image Credit: AFP

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"We have installed all the available anti-coronavirus measures we can think of into this booth," Kim Hwang-yun, a district official in charge of the Smart Shelter project, told AFP. Free Wi-Fi is also included. Image Credit: AFP

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Since they were installed last week each booth has been used by about 300 to 400 people a day, Kim said. To ensure passengers do not miss their bus, a panel displays estimated arrival times while a screen live-streams the traffic outside. Image Credit: AFP

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South Korea endured one of the worst early coronavirus outbreaks outside China but brought it broadly under control with an extensive "trace, test and treat" programme while never imposing a compulsory lockdown. Kim Ju-li, a 49-year-old housewife using the new bus stop for the first time, told AFP: "I feel really safe in here because I know others around me had their temperatures checked as well as me." Image Credit: AFP

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