On the afternoon of the 29th, a detainee at the Dongbu Detention Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, directly writes down complaints such as overcrowding of confirmed cases and listens to the reporters. yunhap news
The outbreak of mass infection of the novel coronavirus infection (Corona 19) in the Eastern Detention Center in Seoul is expanding. The problem is that, in addition to the individual quarantined confirmed patients, the prisoners whose test results were negative are still living in one space. Experts on infectious diseases pointed out that individual acceptance is urgent because there is a possibility that the virus may be dormant even if it is negative.
Cumulative 792 confirmed cases related to Dongbu detention center
According to the Ministry of Justice on the 30th, a total of 792 confirmed cases of Corona 19 related to the Eastern Detention Center as of 0 o’clock on that day. Of these, there were 771 prisoners (including prisoners) and 21 detention center employees. As of 0 o’clock the previous day, the number of confirmed patients at the Eastern Detention Center, which was counted by the Central Defense Countermeasures Headquarters, increased by 30 from 762. The eastern detention center did a full examination three weeks after the first confirmed case was released on the 27th of last month, and the state of the large-scale infection was revealed after that.
Of the 771 confirmed prisoners, 409 are currently in the eastern detention center. 345 confirmed cases were transferred from the eastern detention center to the second Gyeongsangbuk-do prison, and 16 and one detainee, respectively, were confirmed as confirmed after being transferred from the eastern detention center to the southern Seoul prison and the northern Gangwon prison.
On the 30th, a bus carrying detainees is departing from the eastern detention center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, where a number of corona19 confirmed cases have occurred. yunhap news
“It’s voice, but there are people who have viruses and people who don’t.”
The reason that the spread does not stop in the situation of quarantine as soon as a confirmed person is released in the first and third complete tests is because an additional latent infected person who was determined to be negative is being confirmed. In the end, an analysis is raised that the common life of negative prisoners is a hole in quarantine. If the amount of virus detected in the Corona 19 test does not meet the positive criteria, it is judged negative, but there is still a possibility of transmission. There were a large number of cases in which the negative test was changed to positive in three total tests.
On that day, the Dongbu detention center conducted a fourth total survey on 1830 people, including employees.
It is said that there are about 700 rooms that can be used for accommodation in the eastern detention center. An official from the Ministry of Justice said, “It is best to use one room per person, but the number of prisoners is much more than doubled,” he said.
Experts recommended quarantine in one room per person, but raised concerns about the spread of transfers to other prisons. Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious medicine at Kodae Guro Hospital, said, “It is negative, but people with and without virus are mixed,” and pointed out that “whether temporary container quarantine is built, it is the top priority to take all measures and isolate it to one person per person.” Regarding the transfer to other prisons, he said, “If you cannot quarantine in a completely blocked state, you can spread the virus to other prisons.”
Professor Chun Byung-cheol of Korea University’s Department of Preventive Medicine said, “The fact that more than one-third of the infected people in one facility has already spread the virus,” he said. “It is best for now not to spread outside the eastern detention center.”
On the other hand, Kim Dong-hyun, a professor of preventive medicine at Hallym University, said, “If left as it is, the elderly or underlying diseases are likely to worsen seriously, so there is only one way to remove them all to a facility where one person can be isolated.”
The structure of the Eastern Detention Center is also raising concerns about further spread. The Dongbu Detention Center, built in 2017, has a structure of ‘3 mils’ (dense, close, and enclosed) because single-story buildings are apartment-type with five buildings connected unlike other places surrounding the playground.
Growing’Chumi Love Accountability’
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae visited the Seoul East Detention Center on the 29th to receive reports on the outbreak of the corona19 group and related status. Provided by the Ministry of Justice
The main secretary, Justice Minister Chu Mi-ae, is increasingly accountable. Minister Chu visited the detention center only on the 29th, 32 days after the first confirmed case in the Eastern detention center. Minister Chu said, “It is important to separately accept the confirmed and non-confirmed and reduce the acceptance rate,” he said, repeating only measures at the level of principle.
A professor in the field of infectious diseases who requested anonymity said, “I only talked about rituals and took pictures,” he said. “No matter how much a correctional facility is, in order to prevent the spread of Corona 19, the quarantine authorities must become the control tower, not the Ministry of Justice.”
Even in the legal profession, voices criticizing Minister Chu come out. Attorney Kim Jong-min, who was a former prosecutor, pointed out on his Facebook page, “While I was crazy about prosecution reform, shooting Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol and neutralizing the prosecution, the eastern detention center became a corona hell, but I still seem unconscious.”
The Civil Organization’s Committee for Countermeasures for Common People’s Lives sued the police on charges of abandonment of work the day before. It is argued that it is job abandonment that Minister Chu is evading responsibility without apology for the incident at the Eastern Detention Center.
Reporters Kang Kwang-woo and Hwang Soo-yeon [email protected]