Hongseong Prison 'Group Infection'... Nationwide Correctional Facilities Conduct COVID-19 Testing for Over 70,000 Inmates

On the afternoon of the 13th, a vehicle carrying inmates and staff who tested positive for COVID-19 was leaving Chungnam Hongseong Correctional Institution. According to correctional authorities, after one new inmate tested positive for COVID-19 on the 11th, mass testing identified an additional 25 inmates and 3 staff members who tested positive.
(Photo by Yonhap News)

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Tae-min] The Ministry of Justice is set to conduct mass testing of over 70,000 correctional facility workers nationwide in connection with the COVID-19 cluster infection that occurred at Hongseong Prison. This is the second time the government has conducted mass COVID-19 testing across correctional facilities nationwide.

According to the Ministry of Justice on the 13th, the mass testing will be carried out over three days starting from the 14th, targeting approximately 17,000 correctional staff and 53,000 inmates nationwide, totaling around 70,000 people. The Ministry, which is encouraging vaccination among unvaccinated inmates, also plans to promptly proceed with the third dose for staff and inmates who are three months past their second vaccination.

On the same day, a total of 30 people, including 3 staff members and 27 inmates, tested positive at Hongseong Prison. In response, the Ministry of Justice has cohort-isolated confirmed cases and close contacts within Hongseong Prison, and urgently transferred 197 unconfirmed inmates who were not classified as close contacts to the newly built Daegu Prison.

Park Beom-gye, Minister of Justice, chaired an emergency online meeting with heads of correctional institutions nationwide in the morning and visited Hongseong Prison in the afternoon to inspect the isolation measures for confirmed cases and the quarantine status.

At the end of last year, mass testing was conducted across correctional facilities nationwide after a large number of inmates and staff tested positive for COVID-19 at Seoul Eastern Detention Center. This mass testing appears to be a proactive measure to prevent a large-scale cluster infection similar to that at the end of last year.

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