COVID-19 Confirmed Patient in Gangneung Caught Lying About Movement History... City Plans to File Charges

Voluntary Testing and Statements Confirm Close Contact with COVID-19 Patient

File photo [Asia Economy DB]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] A COVID-19 confirmed patient in Gangneung was reported to the city authorities after lying about their movement history, which was uncovered during an epidemiological investigation.

Gangneung City announced on the 20th that "Patient A, who was recently confirmed positive for COVID-19, was reported on the 19th for violating Article 18 of the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act."

According to the city health authorities, Patient A stated, "Since the 1st, I have not met anyone other than my husband, nor have I gone out for cleaning work, and on the 11th, I visited the hospital alone without any companion."

However, during the epidemiological investigation, testimonies from Patient B, who had close contact with Patient A, and Patient C confirmed that Patient A worked together on cleaning tasks and accompanied them to the hospital, revealing that Patient A deliberately omitted or concealed their movement history.

Violating the Infectious Disease Prevention Act can result in imprisonment of up to two years or a fine of up to 20 million won.

Kang Gwang-gu, Director of Disease Prevention, stated, "If Patient B had not voluntarily undergone COVID-19 testing and provided testimony, the defendant’s actions could have led to a mass infection among unspecified individuals, causing significant social loss. Therefore, we reported this case to sound a social warning and prevent similar incidents in the future."

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