Two Family Members of UK Arrivals Confirmed Positive After Death Diagnosis

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] An man in his 80s who entered South Korea from the United Kingdom died of cardiac arrest and was subsequently confirmed positive for COVID-19, followed by two of his family members also testing positive.

Health authorities are currently analyzing whether the man in his 80s, who was first confirmed positive, was infected with a variant virus.

On the 27th, Goyang City in Gyeonggi Province announced that a couple, Mr. A and Mrs. B, residing in Ilsandong-gu, tested positive for COVID-19.

They are family members of Mr. C, who was confirmed positive after dying of cardiac arrest the previous day. They were classified as contacts, underwent diagnostic testing, and tested positive for COVID-19 on the same day. The test results for Mr. C’s spouse, Mrs. D, have not yet been released.

All of them recently arrived from the United Kingdom. Mr. A entered the country first on the 8th of last month, and Mrs. B along with three others entered on the 13th. The three, including Mrs. B, tested negative upon entry and were under self-quarantine. However, after the self-quarantine period ended, Mr. A had movement records, prompting health authorities to conduct an epidemiological investigation.

Among them, Mr. C, in his 80s, experienced cardiac arrest at around 10:45 a.m. on the 26th and was transported to the emergency room of National Health Insurance Ilsan Hospital, where he passed away about 40 minutes later. The hospital collected samples immediately upon his arrival at the emergency room and confirmed COVID-19 positivity around 8 p.m.

Upon receiving this information, the Central Disease Control Headquarters requested the hospital to send samples to verify whether the family, who arrived from the United Kingdom, were infected with a variant virus. The Central Disease Control Headquarters stated, "Results are expected in the first week of January."

The government has temporarily suspended flights from the United Kingdom from the 23rd of last month until the 31st of this month to block the domestic inflow of the variant virus discovered in the United Kingdom.

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