Gwangju Records Highest Daily 53 Cases... What Happened at Hyojeong Nursing Hospital, the Epicenter of the Cluster Infection?

Caregivers, Nurses, Staff, and Inpatients Confirmed Positive One After Another

60 More Cases Added in Two Days at Hyojeong Nursing Hospital Cluster Infection

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] At Gwangju Hyojeong Nursing Hospital, 60 confirmed cases emerged over two days, showing a super-spreader pattern with a very rapid transmission speed.

According to Gwangju City on the 3rd, as of 8 a.m. that day, the number of confirmed cases related to Hyojeong Nursing Hospital reached 60.

On the first day, seven staff members?including one caregiver, one nurse, and five employees?were confirmed positive, followed by 53 hospitalized patients testing positive the next day.

In particular, 53 confirmed cases emerged in a single day, surpassing the previous highest record of 39 cases on August 26 last year.

As a result of mass testing at Hyojeong Nursing Hospital, which has 293 inpatients and 152 staff members, 60 tested positive, 375 tested negative, and 10 results are pending.

This means there are up to 10 potential confirmed cases who may cause additional infections within the hospital.

The problem lies mainly in the possibility of secondary infections caused by confirmed staff members rather than the mostly immobile inpatients.

Of course, for confirmed inpatients vulnerable to the virus, treatment and management have become crucial at this point.

There was already a case of widespread secondary infections stemming from the Evergreen Nursing Home outbreak last month, spreading to Jin Nursing Hospital, saunas, and acquaintances' gatherings. Starting from a caregiver’s visit to a sauna, daily infections rapidly spread uncontrollably, with 63 confirmed cases (including one additional case on the 2nd) to date.

As a preemptive measure, quarantine authorities conduct biweekly inspections and tests on high-risk facilities such as nursing hospitals.

Hyojeong Nursing Hospital had previously tested all staff members negative in three rounds of preemptive testing at high-risk facilities.

From the most recent third test conducted on the 7th of last month to the day before the confirmed cases emerged, less than a month passed, during which 60 cases were confirmed.

Moreover, since most of the confirmed cases are inpatients mainly staying in hospital rooms, it is strongly suspected that their infection route involves staff such as caregivers and nurses. There has been no explanation from quarantine authorities regarding this matter yet.

The quarantine authorities plan to take additional measures after conducting an on-site risk assessment of Hyojeong Nursing Hospital.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases in the Gwangju area has increased to 1,190.

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