Passive Testing Recommendations, Personal Hygiene, and Symptomatic Employees Coming to Work... The Three Factors That Escalated the 'Guro Call Center' Incident

①No history of visiting Daegu or overseas... Hospital reluctant to recommend testing

②Went to work normally despite symptoms... Complacent response

③Not wearing masks and sharing lunch boxes, poor personal hygiene

On the 12th, medical staff collected specimens from residents at the Korea Building screening clinic in Guro-gu, Seoul, a site of a COVID-19 cluster infection. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) originating from the Ace Insurance call center in Guro-gu, Seoul has exceeded 100. As the largest cluster infection in the metropolitan area, the possibility of additional confirmed cases cannot be ruled out. Looking back, there were choices that missed the 'golden time' (the time to save lives during accidents or disasters) to prevent the spread of community infection.

According to Metanet Mplatform, the operator of the Guro call center, there were six symptomatic individuals with fever (37.5 degrees Celsius or higher) from February 4 until before confirmed cases appeared this month. The company checked for fever twice a day and identified six people with fever during the COVID-19 spread phase: two on February 4, one on February 7, one on February 11, and two on March 2. Among them, an employee who had a fever on March 2 was later confirmed positive.

◆Hospital Reluctance to Test for COVID-19... Why?= At the time of identifying fever cases within the center, those with fever were sent home and visited hospitals. However, none of them received COVID-19 diagnostic testing because they had no history of visiting Daegu or overseas, nor contact with the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. The Guro call center stated that all employees with fever brought medical certificates and prescriptions, which were verified before they returned to work as normal.

A hospital official where a confirmed call center employee visited said, "Since they reported no history of visiting overseas or Daegu/Gyeongbuk regions, it was judged as acute pharyngitis." Professor Cheon Eun-mi of the Respiratory Medicine Department at Ewha Mokdong Hospital said, "Because the government maintains guidelines that only symptomatic individuals who have visited China or other high-risk areas (Daegu/Gyeongbuk) are eligible for COVID-19 testing, frontline hospitals are often reluctant to recommend tests. Hospitals should actively encourage testing for patients with respiratory symptoms to avoid liability."

A closure notice is posted on the Korea Building in Guro-gu, Seoul, where a COVID-19 cluster infection occurred on the 12th. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

◆No mask wearing and lunch boxes = The health authorities believe that the widespread transmission was due to more than 200 people gathering on one floor and the difficulty of wearing masks due to the nature of call center work. Son Young-rae, spokesperson for the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said at a briefing on the 10th, "It was confirmed that most employees did not wear masks due to the nature of call center work." Call center officials lamented that they could not enforce mask-wearing. A call center company official said, "We issued mask-wearing guidelines, but employees took off masks during work for communication reasons, and there was no way to control all of this." Some confirmed cases did not maintain personal hygiene properly, bringing their own lunch boxes and eating with team members in the break room despite having respiratory symptoms.

◆More proactive measures needed for symptomatic individuals= The Guro call center checked for fever twice daily and provided personal masks as part of COVID-19 response. However, allowing symptomatic individuals with fever or sore throat to work normally based only on medical certificates was a complacent approach. Considering the call center structure where about 200 people are crowded in a 1102㎡ (approximately 333 pyeong) area separated by 120 cm long desks and many employees not wearing masks during work, more proactive self-quarantine measures were necessary.

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