Patient 16 Cares for 'Daughter' Patient 18 at Gwangju Hospital... Entire 3rd Floor Isolated (Comprehensive)

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] All patients on the 3rd floor of Gwangju 21st Century Hospital, where the 16th domestic case of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) stayed, have been placed under isolation.

Kim Kang-lip, Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, stated at a briefing after the Central Response Headquarters meeting on the 5th, "The 16th patient stayed on the 3rd floor of Gwangju 21st Century Hospital to care for his daughter." The daughter of the 16th patient is the 18th patient.

The immediate response team, composed of experts from the Central Disease Control Headquarters, Central Accident Response Headquarters, and the Infectious Disease Society, went to the site the previous evening and is currently taking emergency measures for patients and staff within the hospital together with Gwangju City.

Vice Minister Kim explained, "Patients on the 3rd floor, who had many contacts, were moved to other floors and are currently all isolated within the hospital." He added, "Patients admitted on other floors with relatively lower risk will be discharged and then isolated either through self-quarantine or moved to single rooms in the living quarters of the Gwangju Fire Academy, depending on their symptoms."

Among the hospital staff, those with a high risk of infection are all under self-quarantine. The other staff members are currently under observation. At present, about 70 medical personnel and nurses and about 70 patients are staying at the 21st Century Hospital. All patients and medical staff who stayed at the hospital are undergoing testing for the novel coronavirus.

Regarding the size of the rooms where the 16th and 18th patients stayed, Vice Minister Kim said, "I heard they were single rooms, but we will confirm and disclose the final details this afternoon."

The 18th patient was hospitalized at the 21st Century Hospital after ligament surgery and was tested after her mother was confirmed positive. The 16th patient returned from a trip to Thailand on the 19th of last month. Symptoms first appeared on the 25th, and he visited the 21st Century Hospital. On the 3rd of this month, he was isolated and tested at Chonnam National University Hospital, and was confirmed positive the next day.

Meanwhile, the isolation of patients and medical staff at the hospital is not cohort isolation. Cohort isolation refers to grouping patients with a specific disease and medical staff into the same cohort and isolating them all to reduce the risk of spread.

Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Response Headquarters, said, "Cohort isolation is basically implemented when infection is widespread within a hospital and is applied to the hospital itself," adding, "It is a concept that prohibits movement of people inside the hospital."

He continued, "In the case of the 21st Century Hospital, only patients on the 3rd floor were isolated for now," and explained, "If there are enough beds, isolation including patients on other floors could be possible, but since there are very few single rooms in the hospital and based on risk assessment, it was judged that cohort isolation is not necessarily required."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.