Homeless People Without Residence or Mobile Phones May Become Blind Spots in Quarantine Measures

The operation of the homeless facility Seoul Station Hope Support Center, set up at Seoul Station Plaza, is being suspended following the confirmation of a COVID-19 case at the homeless facility in Seoul Station on the 26th of last month. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] As COVID-19 cases continue to be confirmed among homeless people whose whereabouts are difficult to track, concerns are rising that they may fall into a 'blind spot' in quarantine measures.

According to health authorities and the police on the 3rd, since the first confirmed case at the Seoul Station Homeless Support Center on the 17th of last month, a total of 54 people have been confirmed as COVID-19 cases related to the Seoul Station homeless facility as of the day before. Among them, the whereabouts of three people were unknown after their positive diagnosis; two of them were taken into custody by the police and handed over to health authorities. The whereabouts of one person are still being investigated.

Even if homeless individuals have been tested at the Seoul Station homeless facility, they do not stay only near Seoul Station but move around, making contact tracing difficult. Most of them do not have mobile phones. It was found that all three homeless people who disappeared without contact did not provide their mobile phone numbers during the specimen collection process. One homeless person who tested positive on the 25th of last month has been missing for a week after losing contact. It was confirmed that this individual did not provide their residence or contact information when undergoing screening at the Jung-gu Public Health Center. Although contact was attempted through a mobile phone number obtained during police investigation, the phone is currently turned off.

Even after being diagnosed positive, health authorities or police must visit places where homeless people gather, such as Seoul Station and Guro Station, to confirm their whereabouts. There is concern about secondary infections as well. Professor Kim Woo-joo of the Infectious Diseases Department at Korea University Guro Hospital said, "For homeless people, it is not easy to find their whereabouts as they do not have a fixed residence even within Seoul," adding, "It seems necessary to establish a system to manage their COVID-19 infections centered around shelters where they get meals."

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