Voice judged female prisoner transferred to newly built Daegu prison… Concerns about disruption of inmate transfer measures
[아시아경제 배경환 기자] A female prisoner was confirmed for the first time at the Seoul East Detention Center, where group infection in correctional facilities began. Epidemiological investigations are not easy because they were negative in the previous 1st to 5th total tests and there was no external contact. There are even concerns that an additional group infection will occur.
According to the Ministry of Justice on the 11th, as of 8 a.m., the number of confirmed coronavirus infections (Corona 19) in correctional facilities nationwide is 1225. Compared to the previous day, there were no changes, with 1179 prisoners including prisoners and 46 correctional facilities staff.
The number of confirmed detainees by institution is the eastern detention center with the largest number of 668. Following this, there were 333 North Gyeongsang Prisons, 16 Gwangju Prisons, 17 Seoul South Prisons, 1 Seoul Detention Center, and 3 Gangwon North Prisons.
The problem is that the first female confirmed in the last 7th total examination. In the case of female prisoners, all tests were excluded from the 6th test as they were negative for the first to fifth tests. However, it is believed that there was an asymptomatic period after the inmate was confirmed in the 7th round.
The Ministry of Justice, as well as the confirmed person, separated into a single room and transferred about 250 female prisoners with negative judgments, excluding those with direct or indirect contacts and underlying diseases, to the newly built Daegu prison the day before. It was also decided to conduct the 8th total inspection. About 300 detainees from the Dongbu detention center are also subject to examination of female detainees who have been transferred to Daegu prison.
The Ministry of Justice believes that the number of confirmed cases continued to decrease in the Eastern Detention Center’s total inspection, which was conducted up to the 7th round, and the overall spread is seen to have declined. In fact, Dongbu Detention Center conducted a first full-scale examination on 2844 prisoners and employees on December 18 after the first confirmed case occurred on November 27 last year, and found 187 confirmed cases. On the 23rd, in the second full test on the 23rd, 300 patients, 3rd round 260, 4th round 140, 5th round 127, 6th round 66, followed by 7th to 13th, showed a decreasing trend.
However, in the eighth survey, if additional infections in female prisoners emerge, there is not a small possibility that it will be another cause of group infection. Moreover, if a confirmed case comes out of the 250 negatively judged female detainees transferred to the Daegu prison, the countermeasures for transfer to correctional facilities will also be disrupted. Earlier, the Ministry of Justice announced that it will conduct a full corona 19 test for correctional facilities across the country to transfer prisoners who have not contacted the confirmed patient to Daegu prison.
It is inevitable even from the accusation of having a hole again in the quarantine measures. The Ministry of Justice excluded the sixth full test, saying that there were no confirmed cases of female prisoners as a result of five full tests in the Dongbu Detention Center, and that they were completely separated from male prisoners, but confirmed immediately from the next seventh round.
Meanwhile, with the momentum of the third corona19 pandemic in Korea, the number of new confirmed cases dropped to the mid-400s on this day. On the last 8-10 days, after maintaining 600 people for three days in a row, it descended to 400. The 400 new confirmed cases are 41 days after the 1st of last month, just before the spread of this epidemic in earnest.
Reporter Bae Sang-hwan [email protected]