Continued Triple-Digit Confirmed Cases... Additional Mass Testing at Dongbu Detention Center

6 More Undecided Cases Confirmed After 5th Test... 1 Additional Jeju Prison Staff Confirmed

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The Ministry of Justice is set to conduct the 6th mass testing of inmates and staff at Seoul Dongbu Detention Center. This decision comes after five previous rounds of mass testing, each revealing triple-digit confirmed cases, indicating that asymptomatic carriers are facilitating further infections. With four inmates transferred from Dongbu Detention Center to Gangwon Northern Correctional Institution and one staff member at Jeju Correctional Institution also testing positive, the possibility of the virus spreading to correctional facilities nationwide has increased.

According to the Ministry of Justice on the 4th, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in correctional facilities nationwide reached 1,115 as of midnight. Following the 5th mass testing conducted the previous day, 121 new cases were confirmed in a cluster, and among seven individuals previously classified as pending test results, six were later confirmed positive.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases related to Dongbu Detention Center to 1,090, of which 1,047 are inmates (including those released). Considering that there were 2,419 inmates during the 1st mass testing, approximately 43% have tested positive.

Health authorities are paying close attention to the fact that each mass testing at Dongbu Detention Center has yielded triple-digit confirmed cases. The 1st mass testing identified 185 inmates and 2 staff members as positive, the 2nd added 298 inmates and 2 staff, the 3rd confirmed 233 inmates, and the 4th resulted in 139 confirmed cases. Despite conducting mass testing at intervals of 3 to 5 days since December 18, the continued emergence of confirmed cases suggests that infected and negative individuals were not separated promptly.

Although the number of confirmed cases has been decreasing since the 2nd mass testing conducted just before the Christmas holiday, the proportion of positive cases among those tested has not changed. Compared to the previous mass testing, the positivity rate was 7.9% during the 4th round but actually rose to 10.8% in the 5th round.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Justice plans to conduct the 6th mass testing as early as the 5th. The goal is to quickly separate infected individuals from remaining negative inmates within correctional facilities to reduce the density of confirmed cases at Dongbu Detention Center. Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae also stated, "It is presumed that contact with asymptomatic carriers who were not filtered out during the initial separation of symptomatic and asymptomatic individuals is the cause of the spread." However, there remains a possibility that asymptomatic carriers could pass the mass testing and later test positive at other facilities. Indeed, after the transfer of inmates from Dongbu Detention Center, additional confirmed cases were reported at Nambu Correctional Institution and Gangwon Northern Correctional Institution.

It has been confirmed that the COVID-19 countermeasure guidelines issued by the Ministry of Justice just before the holiday were distributed to correctional facilities nationwide over the weekend. The core of the guidelines is to elevate social distancing within correctional facilities to Level 3, fully restricting inmate treatment systems such as visitations and education.

First, visitations are prohibited for all pretrial detainees and inmates classified as S1 to S4. All visitations must be conducted by phone only, with pretrial detainees and S1, S2 inmates allowed one phone visitation per week, and S3, S4 inmates allowed one every two weeks. However, considering the trend of confirmed cases, if the distancing level is lowered to Level 2, general and video visitations will be permitted once a week and once every two weeks, respectively.

Additionally, the transfer of inmates who tested negative within Dongbu Detention Center is now being actively considered. Transfers to facilities such as Nambu Correctional Institution are under review to reduce inmate density and assign single rooms to close contacts.

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