[앵커]
More than 1,200 confirmed cases were found in the Seoul East Detention Center managed by the government. In this utterly disconnected from the outside, what happened was so many confirmed cases, our reporters explored the whole story. And in the process, 220 people were released within a month, and it was also confirmed that the virus spread across the walls of the detention center and into the community.
For more information, this is reporter Kang Shin-hoo.
[기자]
The government that ordered intense social distancing last month.
However, the number of confirmed cases was amplified at the Seoul East Detention Center, an urban facility managed by the government.
There was a reason.
The report revealed that the new prisoners were not self-quarantine on the 14th as directed by the Ministry of Justice.
A detention center trapped in an unprecedented infectious disease.
Many inmates were sent out on parole, etc.
Over a month, 220 people came out of the fence.
43% of prisoners are infected.
Even those released from prison have a high probability of becoming infected.
I tracked the quarantine against them.
Mr. A, who was released after being released from quarantine after suffering from Corona, went down to Ulsan by train.
[서울동부구치소 출소자 : 그때 제가 내려올 때 어쨌든 접촉되면 안 되니까 너무 긴장상태여가지고 마스크 계속 끼고 비닐장갑을 그때 꼈었어요.]
As the symptoms continued, I tested again at the university hospital, but it was positive and diagnosed that isolation was necessary.
The explanation of the Ministry of Justice is difficult.
[법무부 관계자 : 저도 지금 근무를 30년 해보는데 이런 일이 처음이에요. 그러니까 처음이다 보니까 다들 좀 우왕좌왕했어요, 사실.]
Another prisoner B also travels to Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi-do by subway and taxi.
I didn’t even know that I was a self-quarantine, but a few days later my whole family was diagnosed with coronavirus.
[서울동부구치소 출소자 : 자가격리 하라는 말도 없었다가…갑자기 양성 나오고 하니까 그 전에 가족이랑 이야기하고 밥 먹고 다 했는데 뭐 어떡해요.]
As a result, the health authorities could not properly conduct an epidemiological investigation.
There were even symptoms before release, but the Ministry of Justice sent it out without action, and some prisoners were confirmed two days later.
After a while,’Lee Gyu-yeon’s Spotlight’ will report the full story of the Dongbu detention center super infection.
(Production PD: Park Gun-hee·Ahn Jeong-yong / Writer: Kim Jeong-yeon· Lee Ye-ji)