Incheon City Conducts Sample Testing at Group Facilities Including Nursing Hospitals Near Confirmed Cases... First Nationwide

Establishing Community Spread Prevention Measures Through Sample Analysis

Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun is reporting on Incheon City's response status and action plans at the 'Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting for COVID-19' chaired by the Prime Minister. 2020.3.12
[Photo by Incheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City will conduct sample testing on group facilities within areas where confirmed cases have occurred to establish a response system against the spread of community cluster infections of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The sample testing period will be from the 13th to the 24th of this month, targeting 500 locations including nursing hospitals, psychiatric medical institutions, nursing homes, psychiatric care facilities, and psychiatric rehabilitation facilities.

The city plans to investigate the status of group facilities around the residences of COVID-19 confirmed patients in 10 districts and counties, then randomly select one staff member and two patients from each facility to collect specimens for sample testing.

In nursing hospitals and psychiatric medical institutions with doctors, specimens can be collected by visiting the local health center to receive triple transport containers and transport media. For facilities without doctors, the health center will directly collect specimens and request testing from the city’s Health and Environment Research Institute.

The sample test results will be analyzed for the frequency of confirmed cases by age, gender, facility, and region, and will be used as basic data for future preparation against additional COVID-19 spread or for managing group facilities.

An Incheon City official stated, "This is the first time nationwide that sample testing for COVID-19 is being conducted on group facilities around confirmed patients," adding, "The testing data will also be utilized for responding to other infectious diseases in the future."

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