Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, Who Rushed Around Infection Risk Sites, Tests Negative for COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, tested negative for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) on the 7th.

Gyeonggi Province announced through a press release that "the specimen collected from Governor Lee at Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Suwon Hospital on the evening of the previous day was tested by the Gyeonggi Provincial Institute of Health and Environment and confirmed as 'negative'." Governor Lee had mild cold symptoms from the afternoon of the same day and was monitoring symptom development when he experienced a runny nose and sore throat, leading to testing upon the recommendation of infectious disease experts.

Recently, Governor Lee visited the Bundang Jesaeng Hospital in Seongnam City, where multiple confirmed cases occurred, and on the 2nd of this month, he went to Gapyeong-gun's "Pyeonghwa-ui Gungjeon" to collect specimens from Lee Man-hee, the head of Shincheonji. On the 25th of last month, he also visited the Shincheonji headquarters in Gwacheon City to directly obtain the list of followers.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Shincheonji-related facilities in Gwacheon and Gapyeong have been closed since the 24th of last month due to concerns about cluster infections. At Bundang Jesaeng Hospital, nine people including patients, medical staff, and guardians tested positive, leading to the suspension of medical services early the previous day.

At that time, Governor Lee stayed inside the Shincheonji headquarters in Gwacheon for about three hours while wearing a mask, and was inside the Shincheonji Pyeonghwa-ui Gungjeon in Gapyeong for about ten minutes.

After specimen collection, Governor Lee was self-isolating at the governor's official residence and plans to resume external activities following the negative test result.

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