Government: "1,300 Symptomatic Shincheonji Members from China to Complete Testing by Tomorrow"

An officer from the Investigation Division of Daegu Dongbu Police Station was confirmed positive for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). It was revealed that the officer attended a service at the Shincheonji Daegu Church on the 16th, which was visited by patient number 31. On the 24th, the back door of the civil service office at Daegu Dongbu Police Station was closed due to COVID-19.

[Asia Economy Reporters Choi Daeyeol and Jo Hyun-ui] The government plans to complete virus diagnostic testing by the 26th for about 1,300 Shincheonji Church of Jesus Daegu congregation members currently under self-quarantine who are showing symptoms.

Kim Kang-rip, the 1st Chief Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said at a briefing on the 25th, "Among the 9,231 Shincheonji Church members under management, we are prioritizing diagnostic tests for about 1,300 individuals exhibiting respiratory and fever symptoms," adding, "We expect to complete this by the 26th."

The disaster headquarters has agreed to cooperate with Shincheonji by obtaining nationwide Shincheonji church member lists and contact information. The church agreed to the government's request on the condition of maintaining security measures to prevent personal information leaks. They will provide a list of high-risk members who visited other regions during January and February this year, including those from other regions who visited the Daegu church and Daegu church members who visited other regions during the same period. The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters plans to secure the member lists as soon as possible, notify public health centers and local governments nationwide, and begin COVID-19 investigations targeting members residing in their respective jurisdictions.

Considering the rapid increase in patients centered in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, additional hospital beds for patient treatment will be secured. According to the headquarters, as of today, 47 out of 63 negative pressure rooms in Daegu are in use, along with 430 beds at designated infectious disease hospitals such as Daegu Medical Center and Dongsan Hospital. Additionally, patients currently hospitalized at the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service Daegu Hospital, Daegu Veterans Hospital, Armed Forces Daegu Hospital, and National Masan Hospital will be transferred to other facilities to secure 1,600 beds by early next month.

Furthermore, to prepare for potential bed shortages, nearby regional medical centers have been designated as dedicated hospitals. The headquarters reported that about 870 additional beds are being secured by transferring inpatients. To support specimen collection necessary for diagnostic testing, 75 public health doctors and 10 nurses have been sequentially deployed since the 20th, and 101 personnel including 38 doctors have been assigned to dedicated hospitals. Besides Daegu, infectious disease dedicated hospitals were designated from the 21st in Andong, Pohang, Kimcheon, Uljin County Medical Centers in Gyeongbuk, as well as Sangju and Yeongju Red Cross Hospitals.

Coordinator Kim Kang-rip stated, "We are designating additional dedicated hospitals to ensure there is no shortage of beds," adding, "Although there were some initial periods when bed allocation was not smooth, we currently have secured sufficient beds to meet patient demand."

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