Samsung Seoul Hospital Becomes a Benchmark in Quarantine Measures

Nurse Acquaintance Infected in Chungnam
Contacted Ten Days Ago...Scope Expands
"Early Response Fast, Spread Unlikely"

On the 19th, four nurses at Samsung Seoul Hospital were confirmed positive for COVID-19, while citizens are undergoing COVID-19 testing at the hospital's screening clinic. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporters Choi Daeyeol, Kim Heungsun] An employee of a public institution in Seosan, Chungnam, tested positive for the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) on the 20th. The individual is an acquaintance of a nurse at Samsung Seoul Hospital who was confirmed positive on the 18th. After the nurse's diagnosis, the acquaintance visited Seosan Medical Center for testing. Since the contact between the Seosan patient and the nurse is estimated to have occurred ten days before the positive diagnosis, the scope of the epidemiological investigation is likely to widen. However, Seoul City expects that due to the prompt initial response, the infection will not spread widely within the hospital as it did during the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak.

"Early Response Fast, Spread Unlikely"

According to local governments on this day, the number of people tested related to the Samsung Seoul Hospital nurse cluster infection reached 828 as of the morning. Four nurses have been confirmed positive, and a total of 121 people, including 25 surgical patients, 88 medical staff, and 8 family members and acquaintances, are under self-quarantine. Most have been tested, and among the 81 whose results have been received, all tested negative.

It remains unclear whether the nurse cluster infection originated inside the hospital or was contracted externally. However, based on the disclosed movement paths so far, most worked wearing masks inside the hospital, and contact tracing has been relatively straightforward, allowing local governments and quarantine authorities to respond swiftly. Samsung Seoul Hospital faced criticism for its delayed initial response during the 2015 MERS outbreak when it was late in reporting that a confirmed patient had visited. At that time, nearly half of all MERS patients in South Korea, totaling 85, were linked to this hospital.

Park Won-soon, Mayor of Seoul, appeared on 'CBS Radio Kim Hyun-jung's News Show' on this day and said, "In the case of the Itaewon club cluster infection, the first confirmed case's infection route was unclear, but through comprehensive testing, the spread was contained." He added, "(The Samsung Seoul Hospital cluster) is more limited, so I believe it can be fully controlled."

Two high school students tested positive for COVID-19, causing Inhang High School in Incheon to delay reopening by one day. After completing disinfection work, quarantine officials are leaving the school. <이미지:Yonhap News>

Incheon Academy Instructor-Related Cases Rise to 27

Two new confirmed cases reported in Incheon on this day were high school seniors and classified as related to an academy instructor who had visited the Itaewon club. The two new patients are presumed to have been infected at a karaoke room in Incheon, which was visited before the instructor's student and friend tested positive. Including seven patients linked to this karaoke room, the total number of cases related to the Incheon academy instructor has risen to 27.

During the initial epidemiological investigation, this patient concealed their occupation and movement paths, causing a delay in the city's early response. Meanwhile, as of midnight on this day, a total of 32 new confirmed cases were reported. After recording 35 new cases on the 11th, the daily new cases had remained in the 10 to 20 range but exceeded 30 for the first time in nine days. Among these, 24 are community transmission cases, and the remaining 8 are imported cases. Approximately four months after the first domestic case, the number of patients released from quarantine surpassed 10,000 for the first time on this day, with 781 patients currently isolated and receiving treatment.

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