COVID-19 Fear Arises in Busan Following 'Jusa Ajumma' Incident

Confirmed Cases Related to 'Bangmunjusa' Increase to 13 by the 9th
Nursing Assistant Passed Away on the 3rd, Infection Source Unknown Due to Funeral Attendance

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan City is desperately searching for citizens who received nutritional injections from a ‘Jusa Ajumma’ at their homes.

Since the afternoon of the 9th, safety text messages have been sent, encouraging those involved to consult with health centers. This is because the number of confirmed cases related to home visits for injections has increased to 13 as of the 9th.

Recently, in Busan, people who received nutritional IV injections from a visiting nurse assistant have been consecutively confirmed as COVID-19 positive, turning home visit injections into an unexpected ‘fear’ in Busan.

According to Busan city health authorities on the day, the 476th confirmed case in Busan was related to the home visit injections. Earlier, five confirmed cases in Busan (cases 445, 450, 451, 458, and 466), whose infection routes were unclear, were later confirmed through epidemiological investigations to be related to home visit injections.

Four confirmed cases from other regions outside Busan (2 from Ulsan, 1 from Gyeongnam, and 1 from Seoul) were also found through epidemiological investigations to be connected to the same ‘Jusa Ajumma.’

Busan City has identified a total of 13 confirmed cases related to home visit injections and considers a nurse assistant with suspected COVID-19 symptoms as the connecting link.

It is believed that the initially infected nurse assistant either transmitted the virus sequentially to those who received injections or became infected during the injection process and then spread it.

However, the infection status of this nurse assistant has not been confirmed. Since she died of acute myocardial infarction on the 3rd and was cremated on the 5th without time for diagnosis, confirmation was not possible.

The nurse assistant who administered injections without a doctor’s prescription is subject to punishment under medical law, but those who received the injections are not punished. Therefore, Busan City recommends that citizens who received nutritional or other injections at home last month voluntarily visit health centers for consultation.

Home visit injections usually cost 20,000 to 30,000 KRW and can be secretly administered without visiting a hospital or clinic, often arranged by a single phone call. If either the person administering or receiving the injection is linked to confirmed cases, it can become a ‘silent transmission’ trigger.

A Busan health official said, “The deceased nurse assistant visited homes after receiving phone calls and administered injections. It is judged that close contact could have occurred while injections were given at home, so we plan to expand the investigation.”

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