Comprehensive Testing at 52 Correctional Facilities... Non-Contact Individuals to Daegu Prison (Summary)

66 Additional Confirmed Cases in 6th Mass Testing at Dongbu Detention Center; Cases Halved but Decline Not Guaranteed

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The government will conduct comprehensive COVID-19 testing across all correctional facilities nationwide. Additionally, plans are underway to transfer inmates who have not been in contact with confirmed cases to Daegu Prison. The aim is to quickly identify confirmed cases, close contacts, and negative individuals to preemptively block sources of cluster infections. However, given that local infections and confirmed cases caused by transfers have already occurred, expanding testing alone is expected to have limitations in halting the spread.

On the 6th, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced a quarantine plan for correctional facilities, including comprehensive testing and proactive transfer of negative individuals, and stated that immediate measures will be taken.

First, having completed comprehensive testing of staff and inmates at 11 correctional institutions, testing will now be promptly conducted at the remaining 41 correctional facilities.

Furthermore, in cases where confirmed cases occur in high-rise correctional facilities such as Dongbu Detention Center, a proactive transfer plan will be implemented to house non-contact individuals in newly constructed buildings at Daegu Prison. This is a measure to prevent additional infections caused by contact in advance.

In particular, based on the results of the 6th comprehensive test at Dongbu Detention Center released in the morning, additional quarantine measures will be established. Although confirmed cases dropped to 66 in the 6th round?about half of the 127 cases in the 5th round after three consecutive rounds of triple-digit confirmed cases?it is difficult to say the spread has stopped. This indicates that asymptomatic infections are still ongoing, and there are calls for continued identification of confirmed cases through additional comprehensive testing.

In fact, infection cases within correctional facilities nationwide are increasing. As of 6 p.m. the previous day, four inmates at Seoul Detention Center, two inmates at Seoul Southern Prison, one inmate at Cheonan Prison, and one inmate at Yeongwol Prison were newly confirmed positive. This morning, seven confirmed cases emerged at Yeongwol Prison. Among these, the confirmed cases at Southern Prison and Yeongwol Prison were all inmates transferred from Dongbu Detention Center. Previously, on the 3rd, Dongbu Detention Center transferred 217 inmates to Yeongwol Prison, and on the 4th, 109 inmates were transferred to Southern Prison.

The confirmed cases at Seoul Detention Center and Cheonan Prison are unrelated to Dongbu Detention Center. However, since local infections within correctional facilities have been confirmed, formulating quarantine measures has become more complicated.

The Ministry of Justice and quarantine authorities are also closely monitoring the results of COVID-19 PCR tests conducted at Suwon Detention Center and Incheon Detention Center. Both are high-rise correctional facilities located in the metropolitan area, raising concerns that a second Dongbu Detention Center incident could occur. This is why Deputy Minister of Justice Lee Yong-gu visited the sites yesterday and ordered the immediate activation of isolation rooms for confirmed cases and isolation housing for close contacts.

The Ministry of Justice and correctional authorities plan to decide soon whether to transfer additional inmates from Dongbu Detention Center following the results of the 6th comprehensive test and the government's quarantine measures for correctional facilities. A Ministry of Justice official explained, "This is a measure to completely separate close contacts and reduce inmate density," adding, "We will minimize infection factors through one inmate per room."

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