"Inadequate Response After Confirmation" From Nursing Homes to Childcare Centers... Is There No Problem in the 'K-Quarantine' Blind Spots?

Nationwide Increase in Confirmed Cases at Nursing Homes and Long-term Care Hospitals
Shortage of Beds and Care Staff...Confirmed Cases Succumb One After Another
Experts "Severe Harm to Socially Vulnerable...Government Must Establish Measures"

On the 18th, the entrance of Hyoplus Nursing Hospital in Sang-dong, Bucheon City, which is under cohort isolation due to a cluster infection of the novel coronavirus, was firmly closed. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] Amid the recent surge in cluster infections of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), there are criticisms that the response has been inadequate following confirmed cases in facilities such as nursing hospitals and daycare centers. Due to difficulties in securing beds accompanied by caregiving staff, transfers are delayed, worsening the situation of vulnerable groups left in blind spots of quarantine measures. Although quarantine authorities are conducting follow-up actions such as facility closures, there are criticisms that these efforts are insufficient to handle the current situation. Experts point out that socially vulnerable groups are suffering in disaster situations like COVID-19.

In nursing hospitals nationwide where elderly patients with mobility difficulties are admitted, confirmed cases who have not received timely treatment are increasing as beds become scarce due to the 'third wave' of COVID-19.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) and each city and province on the 29th, the number of nursing hospitals under management due to cluster infections has reached 17 nationwide. The number of confirmed cases from these facilities alone is 1,451.

In the cohort-isolated Yangji Nursing Hospital in Nam-gu, Ulsan, 243 confirmed cases have been reported so far; Miso-deul Nursing Hospital in Guro-gu, Seoul, has 175 confirmed cases; and Hyoplus Nursing Hospital in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, has 166 confirmed cases.

Additionally, around 100 confirmed cases have been reported at facilities such as Ganaan Nursing Home in Gimje, Jeonbuk, and Chamsarang Elderly Nursing Home in Cheongju, Chungbuk.

Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Director of the CDCH, expressed concern, stating, "Recently, cluster infections have increased in nursing hospitals, nursing homes, and other medical institutions, leading to a rise in both the overall number and proportion of elderly patients, a situation that has continued for nearly a month."

Elderly patients with underlying diseases have died while isolated in nursing hospitals without being assigned dedicated beds.

According to the CDCH, as of the 28th, a total of 57 people have died after being confirmed with COVID-19 or posthumously confirmed in nursing hospitals or nursing facilities since January this year. In the case of Bucheon Hyoplus Nursing Hospital, the cumulative death toll reached 38 as of that day.

Quarantine authorities state that securing beds accompanied by treatment and caregiving staff is difficult, causing delays in patient transfers. Deputy Director Kwon said, "As many cluster infections occurred nationwide and the number of patients surged, there were inevitably shortcomings in administrative and medical systems."

Currently, when cluster infections occur in nursing facilities, the CDCH epidemiological investigation team decides on cohort isolation measures, after which local governments separate infected patients, contacts, and general patients within the facility and reassign medical personnel to care for the patients.

On the 28th, a petition titled "Please rescue nursing hospital patients who are cohort isolated and dying trapped like on a Japanese cruise ship" was posted on the Blue House National Petition Board. Photo by Blue House National Petition website capture

As a result, there have been cases where medical staff contracted COVID-19 while caring for confirmed patients. Recently, 62 nurses and caregivers were confirmed positive at Miso-deul Nursing Hospital in Guro-gu.

On the 28th, a petitioner who identified themselves as medical staff working at a nursing hospital in Seoul currently under cohort isolation posted on the Blue House National Petition Board, stating, "There has been no personnel support so far, and the situation is desperate," and appealed, "Without personnel support, proper treatment is impossible, and the number of deaths will increase."

The Korean Medical Association (KMA) held an emergency press conference on the 29th, strongly criticizing, "Cohort isolation in nursing facilities lacking facilities, equipment, and personnel capable of independently treating COVID-19 patients and preventing infection spread is practically equivalent to giving up precious lives within those facilities." They urged, "The government must make every effort to secure dedicated COVID-19 hospitals and beds, and if existing medical institutions are insufficient, immediately secure appropriate locations or sites to establish large-scale temporary medical institutions."

Moreover, in Jeju, there were delays in transferring children in daycare centers who tested positive because they had no guardians. Thirteen people, including students and teachers, were infected at the relevant child welfare center. Although they needed to be quickly moved to hospital beds, transfers were delayed because minors could not be left alone in hospital rooms.

Some criticize the government for not establishing related guidelines regarding the increasing number of vulnerable groups who test positive but do not receive treatment. In particular, administrative measures are not being smoothly implemented, worsening the situation with a surge in confirmed cases.

Experts point out that the medical system crisis has become a reality and call for the government to devise countermeasures.

Professor Kim Woo-joo of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital said, "Socially vulnerable groups in quarantine blind spots inevitably suffer greater harm, so the government needs to manage them more carefully," adding, "But looking at the current situation, it has almost reached the level of medical neglect."

He continued, "Nursing hospitals cannot effectively treat infectious diseases. They can only accommodate patients for isolation," emphasizing, "The medical system itself is collapsing. Support for securing beds and medical personnel is urgent."

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