20s Found Dead During Self-Quarantine in Jeju Test Negative for COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] The COVID-19 test result for a man in his 20s who was found dead in a self-quarantine facility came back negative.

Jeju Province announced on the 22nd that they confirmed a negative test result after collecting a specimen from Mr. A, who was classified as a contact of a confirmed COVID-19 case and died during quarantine.

Mr. A was found dead at 9:21 a.m. that day at the Jeju Human Resources Development Institute, where he was quarantined.

The police believe that Mr. A made an extreme choice based on the fact that he had been taking medication for mental health conditions such as panic disorder and depression.

The provincial health authorities stated that in additional investigations, it was confirmed that Mr. A disclosed a history of mental illness treatment when he entered the quarantine facility on the afternoon of the 19th.

Additionally, Mr. A requested to be with an acquaintance due to anxiety, and although the principle was one person per room quarantine, he was allowed to stay with acquaintance Mr. B during the day under conditions such as maintaining a 2-meter distance and following quarantine rules. Medication he had been taking was delivered through non-face-to-face medical treatment and proxy prescription.

Mr. A and acquaintance Mr. B boarded the same flight as a confirmed COVID-19 patient from Bangladesh on the 18th and have been quarantined in the same facility.

A provincial official said, "From the moment Mr. A entered quarantine until 5:20 p.m. on the 21st, there were no other notable issues during phone calls to check for fever, and there was no request for separate mental health counseling."

The province completed psychological counseling for all 20 or so other quarantined individuals at the facility where the incident occurred, conducted by 16 counselors from the provincial Mental Health Welfare Center.

Based on the psychological counseling, the province plans to implement follow-up measures such as transferring individuals to other facilities.

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