Health ministry designates 6,363 senior centers as heatwave hubs

The health ministry said Thursday it had designated 6,363 senior centers nationwide as heatwave hubs in response to a sharp increase in heat-related illnesses and to deaths during recent record-breaking heatwaves.

The designated centers will be open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. every day through September. Anyone aged 65 or older can use them to seek relief from the heat. The ministry is operating the centers in cooperation with 16 cities and provinces.

Eun Seong-ho, director general for population and social service policy at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, visited senior centers in Yeongdong County, North Chungcheong, and Seoul's Songpa district on Wednesday and Thursday to inspect heatwave-response operations, check on older residents' health and hear their views. "Heatwaves approaching 40 C and tropical nights can be extremely dangerous for older people who are vulnerable to heat," Eun said, urging them to visit senior centers, cool down and check on one another.

People aged 80 or older recorded the highest heat-related illness rate among age groups, at 12.5 cases per 100,000 people, according to the disease control agency. They accounted for 13, or 62%, of 21 suspected heat-related deaths recorded from May 15 through Aug. 4. Among heat-related illness patients aged 80 or older, 18.0% became ill at home, compared with 7.0% across all age groups.

Choi Bong-geun, director general for elderly policy, also visited senior centers in Boeun County, North Chungcheong, and Jeonju, North Jeolla, over the two days. He visited Jeonju Senior Club and called for safety management for older participants in employment programs.

The health ministry plans to strengthen guidance for people aged 80 and older to avoid work in rice paddies and plastic greenhouses, inspections of their home cooling conditions, and check-ins through an ICT-integrated home health-management program at public health centers nationwide. Of 176,514 home visits made by visiting health nurses from July 13 through Aug. 4, 128,283, or 72.7%, involved heatwave-response work such as cooling-environment inspections and providing prevention supplies.