Hwasun-gun, Welfare and Nursing Facility Workers Test Negative in COVID-19 Screening

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Young-gyun] Hwasun-gun, Jeollanam-do (Governor Gu Chung-gon) announced on the 7th that all 1,556 workers at local nursing hospitals, nursing homes, and facilities for the disabled, children, and elderly tested negative in a full COVID-19 screening.

Previously, from the 25th of last month to the 3rd of this month, the county conducted full testing on doctors, nurses, nursing assistants, caregivers, life instructors, and newly hired staff at nursing facilities and group living protection facilities.

For the full screening, a drive-thru screening clinic was separately installed and operated in the parking lot in front of the Yongdae Gymnasium at Hanium Culture and Sports Center in Hwasun-eup.

This allowed the full screening to be completed in the shortest possible time, and efficiency was increased by pre-scheduling testing dates for each facility.

The full screening involved 264 people from 15 nursing homes, 29 people from 3 facilities for the disabled, 20 people from 1 child care facility, 1,172 people from 14 nursing hospitals, and 71 people from 1 daytime care center.

The total number of tests conducted was 1,602, including 1,556 upper respiratory tract tests and 46 lower respiratory tract tests.

The county independently funded the full screening of workers at nursing hospitals and nursing homes because small-scale cluster infections within facilities have been increasing in other regions.

Since COVID-19 cases have been detected among asymptomatic individuals, early detection of asymptomatic infections and preemptive measures to block community spread were deemed important.

Small-scale cluster infections in group facilities such as nursing facilities in the metropolitan area and Daegu-Gyeongbuk region have been continuous, prompting health authorities to order local governments to conduct intensive monitoring and keep a close watch.

There is particular concern that if infections occur in nursing hospitals and nursing homes where high-risk elderly patients with underlying diseases reside, community spread could accelerate and fatalities could increase.

Some experts suggest that if full screening of all nursing hospital and nursing home workers nationwide is difficult, at least sample testing should be conducted.

In this regard, the full screening independently conducted by the county is receiving praise as a quarantine model that preemptively responds to small-scale cluster infections.

This full screening is the first among local governments in Gwangju and Jeollanam-do, and it is unusual to conduct full screening in an area without small-scale cluster infection cases.

The county health center plans to maintain a close hotline with group living facility and nursing hospital officials and strengthen daily monitoring based on this full screening.

Governor Gu Chung-gon said, “In COVID-19 prevention, personal hygiene and all fields and facilities must not be neglected, and full screening of workers in facilities with relatively high risk of small-scale cluster infections is also necessary. We will continue to monitor infection trends and patterns and strengthen countermeasures for vulnerable areas to ensure that the quarantine net is not breached.”

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