[사회]”I hate solitary quarantine, take medicine and hide suspicious symptoms”… the internal situation reported by inmates

■ Progress: Anchor Youngsoo Kim, Anchor Ryeowon Kang
■ Cast: Reporter Eom Yun-ju, Ministry of Social Affairs

* The text below may differ from the actual broadcast content, so please check the broadcast for more accurate information.

[앵커]

The situation at the eastern detention center in Seoul, where the outbreak occurred, is getting worse.

YTN reporters met the families of confirmed prisoners in the Eastern Detention Center and heard about the internal situation.

Some inmates said they hid their suspicious symptoms because they did not want to be isolated in solitary confinement, and some argued that there was no treatment or management, such as giving only medicine to confirmed prisoners.

Reporter Eom Yun-ju, who met with his family in person, is here.

Reporter Eom Yun-ju. Good morning.

First of all, the spread of the eastern detention center is unusual. You met a family of prisoners yesterday?

[기자]

Yes, first of all, let’s look at a letter sent by a prisoner in the 40s of the Eastern Detention Center to his family on the 21st.

The letter was sent on the 18th, after the 1st thorough inspection.

At the time, it is written that 10 non-confirmed people lived in a room where 4 to 5 people stayed because of quarantine when a pile of infections occurred.

It doesn’t take into account the incubation period of up to two weeks.

Also, a picture is drawn saying that it is a poor environment that makes it difficult to move in a cramped room.

This inmate, who was negative in the first total examination, was confirmed at the second total examination on the 23rd.

I’ll see another letter.

Even if the body is sore and sick, it is misunderstood as a confirmed case, and there is a phrase that says that he does not want to be quarantined in a solitary room.

The family also claimed that the mask management in the detention center was a mess.

When the prisoners bought their own masks, there were cases where they only wore a mask or not at all.

Also, it is said that there are many people who do not have masks in detention centers, so they often wear disposable masks for several days or upside down.

[앵커]

Some argue that treatment or management of confirmed prisoners is not systematically performed?

[기자]

Yes, it is.

The daughter of an inmate in her 60s, who was confirmed on the 22nd, complained that the treatment for the confirmed person was not systematic in the detention center.

Most of them are asymptomatic or mild, so they said that they only prescribed medication to those who complained of cold symptoms.

Let’s listen to it in person.

[김민지 (가명) / 60대 수감자 딸 : 대부분이 무증상이나 감기 증상이라서 감기 증상의 경우 약만 처방하고 있다. 이게 다고, 그러면 한 방에 몇 명이 생활하느냐고 물어보니까 그거는 알려줄 수 없다.]

In addition, in the situation where several confirmed prisoners are living together, he expressed his resentment, asking how he could be cured.

In addition, the family did not tell whether they were transferred to Cheongsong Prison, so they said they did not know where the confirmed prisoners were and what their condition was.

The Ministry of Justice refuted that in order to protect personal information, it was not able to provide detailed information such as symptoms without the consent of the person, but that it was notifying the family about the confirmation and whether they were transferred to Cheongsong prison.

Because of this, YTN’s camera yesterday caught a man who seemed to be a prisoner in a detention center.

He reached out of the iron grate and waved the paper, which contained information that 8 confirmed patients lived in a single room and prevented them from sending letters to the outside.

[앵커]

What is the position of the Ministry of Justice in this situation?

[기자]

First of all, with regard to the poor supply of masks, the Ministry of Justice said that it has been providing quarantine masks to all new prisoners since the end of last month, when quarantine was strengthened.

However, he explained that if one is paid every day, it takes 50 million won up to 90 million won, so it is only one payment every 3-4 days due to budget issues.

So, when prisoners couldn’t buy the mask themselves, they had to keep wearing the same mask for 3-4 days.

Before the masks were paid, the prisoners were told to buy and wear cotton masks themselves, or if they couldn’t buy them, the detention center gave them a dental mask.

Instead, he added that he was given a quarantine mask of KF80 or higher when interviewing outsiders.

In addition, due to overcrowding, it was separated into only three groups: confirmed, contacted, and non-confirmed, but now it is said that sufficient space is secured for emergency transportation.

[앵커]

In this situation, there are voices of criticism that why the full inspection was conducted late in the first place. The Ministry of Justice and the Seoul Metropolitan Government are fighting for this responsibility?

[기자]

Yes, it is.

It was on the 14th that a prisoner was first confirmed at the Eastern Detention Center.

Two days later, two other employees were found to be confirmed, and a full inspection of the Eastern Detention Center employees and prisoners was conducted.

In other words, the first full test was conducted on the 18th, four days after the first inmates were confirmed.

In response, the Ministry of Justice turned the arrow to the local government.

When the first prisoners were confirmed, the necessity of full examination was raised, but the Seoul Metropolitan Government and Songpa-gu did not accept it, saying it had no meaning.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government immediately expressed strong regret for the report.

Although it was an issue agreed upon by the relevant agencies, the Ministry of Justice unilaterally handed over responsibility to Seoul and Songpa-gu, contrary to the fact.

He stressed that whether or not to conduct a full investigation in the early stages of infection is not a structure in which Seoul and Songpa-gu can arbitrarily determine the direction of quarantine, as the Ministry of Justice argued.

In particular, the city dismissed the claim of the Ministry of Justice that it was difficult to carry out a full inspection on its own budget, saying that it would be subject to government expenses.

However, it is clear that as a result, the state-managed institution has caused the largest outbreak.

It is important to clearly identify the responsible person along with the cause analysis, but as the number of confirmed cases is exploding, it seems that the priority is to take all measures to curb the spread.

[앵커]

Until now, Yunjoo Eom [[email protected]] I shared it with the reporter.

Thank you.

※’Your report becomes news’ YTN is waiting for your valuable report.
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