[현장] Soonchunhyang University Hospital group infection spread… Spread to Gwangju

The number of confirmed cases related to Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Yongsan-gu, Seoul has already increased to 56. Reporter Ahn Sang-woo is in front of the hospital.

Reporter Ahn, this is a serious situation. Is there a situation in which more infected people could emerge in the future?

<기자>

Yes, here at Soonchunhyang University Hospital, two hospitalized patients on the 12th day of New Year’s Day were confirmed first.

Later, when we examined other hospitalized patients and medical staff on the same floor as this patient, the number of confirmed patients increased to 37, and this time, more than 2,000 people, including all medical staff and hospitalized patients in the main building, were tested, and there were 56 confirmed cases.

There are still testers waiting for results, so the number of people infected may increase.

However, the route of infection has not yet been determined.

The first confirmed patients were negative on diagnostic tests at the time of admission, but positive on retest five days later.

You may have been infected during inpatient treatment.

Also, among other infected people in the hospital, there are cases with earlier symptoms.

For this reason, the quarantine authorities are conducting additional epidemiological investigations on the confirmed patients while quarantining the ward or ward where the confirmed case occurred in the same group.

<앵커>

Reporter Ahn Sang-woo, there is one more problem. The radio wave has already spread to other regions?

<기자>

Yes, one of the employees of Soonchunhyang University Hospital confirmed this time had a meeting with three acquaintances living in Gwangju Metropolitan City on the 10th, and all three acquaintances were confirmed this morning.

In particular, two out of three acquaintances work in a general hospital in Gwangju City, and one of them was found to have worked in the emergency room over the past 11 and 12 days after meeting with an employee of Soonchunhyang University Hospital.

So, the quarantine authorities are trying to determine if any of the patients or medical staff in the hospital have any contact.

(Video coverage: Yang Doo-won, video editing: Lee Seung-jin)

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