Government Seoul Office Staff Overlap Movement with Jongno COVID-19 Patient, 'Emergency'

Visited hospital where infected patient was present
Tested at health center on the morning of the 20th
Results in at least 6 to 48 hours
Government Seoul Office daycare center closed

On the 20th, medical staff are examining a suspected COVID-19 patient who arrived by an ambulance from the Jongno-gu Health Center at the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul.

As additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) have emerged in Jongno-gu, Seoul, an employee who accesses the Government Seoul Complex was recently confirmed to have visited a hospital that an infected person had visited, putting the Government Seoul Complex on high alert.

On the day, the government stated, "An employee working at the Government Seoul Complex recognized that they had also visited a hospital in Jongno-gu that a COVID-19 infected patient had visited, and on the morning of the 20th, they went to a public health center in Jongno-gu for testing." The test results will be available between a minimum of 6 hours and a maximum of 48 hours later.

According to Jongno-gu and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the newly confirmed patient is a 75-year-old male (born in 1945) residing in Buam-dong, who reportedly received treatment at an otolaryngology clinic in Jongno-gu on the afternoon of the 17th.

However, the government explained, "The hospital visited by the confirmed patient individually notified visitors suspected of being close contacts, but the employee in question was not among those notified."

Meanwhile, the daycare center at the Government Seoul Complex has been closed. The otolaryngology clinic visited by the Jongno-gu patient is located in Changseong-dong, Jongno-gu, approximately 380 meters away from the Hanbit Daycare Center at the Government Seoul Complex.

Additionally, among the daycare center children, there was a case where a child visited the same hospital with their father on the same day and around the same time as the confirmed patient and received treatment.

Accordingly, Hanbit Daycare Center issued an urgent notice to parents that it will be closed for one week from the 20th to the 26th.

In the notice, the Seoul Complex daycare center explained, "Since there was a case of a child at our daycare center receiving treatment at the same hospital on the same day as the confirmed patient, we consulted with the Seoul Complex Management Office and decided to close the daycare center one day earlier than the Friday closure recommendation from Jongno-gu Office."

The child who overlapped with the confirmed patient’s movement on the 17th attended daycare on the 18th but began self-quarantine from the 19th.

An official from the Ministry of the Interior and Safety added, "There are three daycare centers within the Government Seoul Complex in Jongno-gu, including Hanbit Daycare Center, and all have been closed."

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