Geochang-gun Conducts Comprehensive Testing for 200 Workers at Elderly Daycare Center

Sequential Retesting Planned for 500 Workers at Nursing Hospitals and Nursing Homes

Geochang-gun Public Health Center Exterior View

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Choi Soon-kyung] Geochang-gun, Gyeongnam Province, announced on the 17th that it will conduct a second round of comprehensive testing for workers at elderly day care centers nationwide, including the metropolitan area, due to the recent widespread outbreak of COVID-19 in elderly care facilities.

This test is fully funded by the national government as a proactive diagnostic test due to concerns about family cluster outbreaks caused by transmission among confirmed cases' families at elderly day care centers and the risk of chain infections along movement routes.

The comprehensive testing will be conducted over four days from the 15th to the 18th, targeting 200 workers at 17 elderly day care centers. Specimens will be collected either by health center staff visiting each facility or by the subjects visiting screening clinics for testing.

The 500 workers at nursing hospitals and nursing homes who were tested previously will also undergo re-testing in sequence.

Elderly care facilities have a high risk of large-scale infections when COVID-19 cases occur, and since elderly and patients with limited mobility have difficulty distinguishing symptoms and expressing them easily, the risk of condition worsening upon infection is high.

Gu In-mo, the mayor of Geochang-gun, said, “Proactive testing of elderly care facilities is to block COVID-19 infections at an early stage,” and added, “We plan to expand the scope of testing to alleviate residents’ anxiety and prevent infections.”

The Geochang-gun Health Center plans to detect asymptomatic infections early to prevent community transmission.

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