Medical Staff at Gukgun Daejeon Hospital All Test Negative in COVID-19 Retesting

Specimen Retaken for Third Test Results 'Negative'
Confusion Arises as Some Positive Results Appeared in First Test the Previous Day

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Jinju] Medical staff at the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital who showed suspected symptoms of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) all tested negative in additional tests.

According to Daejeon City on the 20th, specimens from 10 medical staff members at the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital were newly collected and analyzed in detail on the same day, and all results came back negative.

Among these medical staff, 5 tested positive in the first test conducted by the Armed Forces Medical Research Institute the previous day. Subsequently, the Daejeon City Health and Environment Research Institute received specimens from these 5 and the other 5 who tested negative and reanalyzed them, resulting in mixed outcomes where some positives changed to negative and some negatives changed to positive.

The Daejeon City Health and Environment Research Institute suspected contamination of the specimens, collected new samples, and conducted a third test, which all 10 tested negative.

Considering that some medical staff tested positive in the first test, the Daejeon Health and Environment Research Institute withheld the final negative results and sent the test results to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) for a final judgment.

The KDCA is scheduled to announce the test results on the morning of the 21st. The temporary closure of the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital will be maintained. Currently, 3 confirmed COVID-19 patients are receiving treatment at the Armed Forces Daejeon Hospital.

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