Busan with 144 cases after 4 days of Level 4... Confirmed cases expected to exceed 10,000 tonight or tomorrow morning

Uncontrolled Spread of New and Chain Infections in General Hospitals, Nursing Facilities, and Large Marts

As social distancing entered Level 4, a restaurant in Seomyeon, the bustling district of Busanjin-gu, Busan, is completely empty. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] More than 100 new confirmed cases have emerged again in Busan. The cumulative number of confirmed cases is just about to surpass 10,000.

On the 14th, 144 new and sequential confirmed cases were added, including a new cluster infection at a medical institution in the Busan area, increasing the total to 9,964.

The Busan city government announced that a total of 144 people tested positive, with 23 cases on the afternoon of the 13th and 121 cases on the morning of the 14th.

New cluster infections occurred at one general hospital in Dongnae-gu and one nursing hospital in Suyeong-gu.

In the case of the general hospital in Dongnae-gu, one hospital staff member tested positive on the 12th, and subsequent testing of hospital staff and patients revealed additional confirmed cases on the 13th, including 2 staff members and 3 inpatients.

On the same day, 4 more inpatients tested positive, bringing the total confirmed cases at the hospital to 11, including 3 staff members and 8 patients.

Additionally, one discharged patient who had contact with hospital staff tested positive, and two acquaintances of the discharged patient also tested positive.

The city health authorities believe the infections occurred through contact within the hospital and have implemented cohort isolation measures for three wards.

A cluster infection case also occurred at a nursing hospital in Suyeong-gu. After a staff member at the nursing hospital tested positive on the 11th, follow-up testing revealed that one staff member and 14 inpatients in the ward where the confirmed case worked tested positive on this day.

Among the confirmed cases, one staff member and two patients are presumed to be breakthrough infections who had completed vaccination. The ward has also been placed under cohort isolation.

Additional infections continued at a pub in Busanjin-gu where a cluster infection had previously occurred. On this day, 7 more cases were added, including 1 visitor and 6 contacts, increasing the total confirmed cases related to the pub to 136 (67 visitors, 4 employees, and 65 related contacts).

At a large supermarket in Busanjin-gu, one additional family contact tested positive, bringing the total related confirmed cases to 8 (7 employees and 1 family contact).

In addition, 54 confirmed cases with unknown sources of infection have occurred, indicating that infections are continuing throughout Busan.

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