Proactive Testing for 2 Weeks at Vulnerable Facilities Including Nursing Hospitals... 66 Confirmed Cases

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[Asia Economy Reporter Buaeri] The government recently conducted proactive testing targeting infection-vulnerable facilities such as nursing hospitals over the past two weeks and identified 66 patients infected with the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 9th that from the 21st of last month to the 1st of this month, over a two-week period, tests were conducted on 368,563 people across 10,257 facilities including nursing hospitals, nursing facilities, and psychiatric hospitals, resulting in these findings.

This proactive testing was initiated following cluster infections of COVID-19 occurring mainly in infection-vulnerable facilities such as nursing hospitals in Nam-gu, Ulsan (cumulative 246 cases), nursing hospitals and nursing homes in Guro-gu, Seoul (cumulative 22 cases), and nursing hospitals in Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi Province (cumulative 168 cases).

Among the total target institutions (13,008 places), 78.9% participated. Among the total target population (444,883 people), 82.8% underwent testing.

By institution type, the implementation rates varied significantly: nursing hospitals 81.8%, nursing facilities 69.7%, psychiatric hospitals 139.1%, and psychiatric nursing and rehabilitation facilities 110.5%.

As large-scale cluster infections continued not only in nursing hospitals but also in detention centers, the Central Disease Control Headquarters also prepared a plan to implement rapid antigen testing to quickly identify COVID-19 confirmed cases within group facilities.

According to this plan, the target for testing will be selected by each ministry considering the possibility of cluster infections and medical response burdens among their respective group facilities, and these facilities will establish periodic proactive testing plans. Test subjects will be categorized as newly admitted residents, workers, and external visitors within the facility to enable periodic testing.

Im Suk-young, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters Situation Management Team, stated, "Rapid antigen tests are used as screening tests for early detection of COVID-19 before confirmatory testing, so caution is needed regarding false positives and false negatives. If a positive result is confirmed, it is essential to report to the public health center and undergo confirmatory testing via polymerase chain reaction (PCR)."

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