Four Staff Members Confirmed Positive at Seoul Nambu Correctional Center... COVID-19 Cases Continue in Correctional Facilities

Weekend Hongseong Prison Cluster Infection Followed by 1 Additional Case at Dongbu Detention Center

Entrance of Seoul Nambu Prison.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Over the past weekend, a COVID-19 cluster infection was confirmed at Hongseong Correctional Institution in Chungnam, and confirmed cases continue to occur in correctional facilities in the metropolitan area, including Seoul Eastern Detention Center and Seoul Southern Correctional Institution.

According to the Ministry of Justice on the 14th, four employees at Seoul Southern Correctional Institution recently tested positive for COVID-19.

After one employee at Seoul Southern Correctional Institution tested positive the previous day, the institution conducted polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests on all employees, resulting in three additional confirmed cases on the same day.

One more confirmed case was added at Seoul Eastern Detention Center, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to six.

Seoul Eastern Detention Center conducted mass testing on approximately 490 employees and 1,990 inmates, and one female inmate was newly confirmed positive on that day.

Since the first confirmed case of an inmate transferred from Seoul Detention Center on the 8th, a total of six confirmed cases have been reported at Seoul Eastern Detention Center as of that day.

The Ministry of Justice conducted an epidemiological investigation on the same day. Additionally, on the 16th, further PCR tests will be conducted on female employees and female inmates at the Eastern Detention Center.

Earlier, at Hongseong Correctional Institution, a total of 29 people, including 26 inmates and 3 employees, tested positive for COVID-19 on the 12th.

Among them, three employees and fifteen inmates experienced breakthrough infections after completing their second vaccination dose, while the remaining eleven inmates were infected without having completed vaccination.

Upon confirming the cluster infection, the Ministry of Justice immediately dispatched the head of the Correctional Headquarters to the site and held an emergency countermeasure meeting at Hongseong Correctional Institution. As a result, it was decided to cohort quarantine confirmed cases and close contacts within Hongseong Correctional Institution. Additionally, 197 unconfirmed inmates who were not close contacts were urgently transferred to the newly built Daegu Correctional Institution.

Meanwhile, starting from that day, the Ministry of Justice began proactive PCR testing over three days for all employees and inmates nationwide in correctional institutions. The testing targets approximately 17,000 correctional officers and 53,000 inmates, totaling about 70,000 people.

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