Gyeonggi Province: "Visitors to Itaewon and Nonhyeon-dong must undergo rapid diagnostic testing by the 31st"

[Suwon Ilbo=Park Nohun Reporter] As the government extended health insurance coverage and testing fee support for COVID-19 diagnostic testing related to the Itaewon club cluster outbreak, originally scheduled to end on the 20th, through the 31st, Gyeonggi Province stated it is making efforts to protect the human rights of residents that could be violated during quarantine activities and urged those who should undergo diagnostic testing to do so promptly.

Lim Seung-gwan, co-head of Gyeonggi Province's COVID-19 Emergency Response Task Force (director of Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Anseong Hospital), said during a regular briefing on the 20th, "It is true that it is difficult to completely prevent personal information exposure and privacy infringement during epidemiological investigations and information disclosure, but Gyeonggi Province will communicate with civil society to identify and fill in gaps," and added "If there are residents who have visited the Itaewon and Nonhyeon-dong areas in Seoul recently but have not yet been tested, please undergo diagnostic testing at the nearest health center regardless of symptoms."

In connection with this, the province held a roundtable discussion on the 15th with officials from the COVID-19 Sexual Minority Emergency Response Task Force and the Provincial Human Rights Commission. The discussion covered ways for sexual minorities to safely and promptly undergo voluntary testing, problems that could arise during testing and epidemiological investigation procedures and solutions, and psychological treatment support measures for situations where mental health could be threatened due to outing and other issues.

As of 0:00 on the 20th, the confirmed cases nationwide related to Itaewon clubs total 192. Among these, cases in the province increased by 7 from the previous day to a total of 41, with 19 directly related to Itaewon clubs and 22 cases of community transmission from family members and colleagues of confirmed cases. By occupation, office workers account for 20 cases (49%), making up half, and by age group, those in their 20s and 30s make up the majority at 34 cases (83%).
Out of 19,053 people who underwent diagnostic testing, including self-reported cases, with 17,430 related to Itaewon clubs and 1,623 related to community transmission, 18,959 tested negative and 41 tested positive. The remaining 53 are still undergoing testing.

Director Lim explained, "Since the administrative order for free testing of visitors to Itaewon and Nonhyeon-dong implemented on the 10th, the number of self-reported test subjects has shown a trend of first increasing significantly then decreasing."

Among the new confirmed cases identified on this day, a radiologic technologist working at Yongin Gangnam Hospital is a resident of Anyang City, and after experiencing symptoms following a morning shift on the 18th, was confirmed positive after being screened at the hospital where she works. According to epidemiological investigation, this confirmed case is a contact of a confirmed case in Gunpo City who visited Itaewon club on the 5th, and is believed to have been infected while drinking together with 5 friends and acquaintances at a tavern in Anyang City on the evening of the 14th. A total of 6 people, including confirmed cases in Yongin and Gunpo cities, have been confirmed positive.
The confirmed case was found to have worked at Gangnam Hospital on the 16th, the day before confirmation, and was on leave on the 17th. After the confirmed case was identified, Gangnam Hospital closed its emergency room, prohibited admissions, discharges, and outpatient services, and conducted disinfection; operations resumed on the 20th.
The province is conducting epidemiological investigations on visitors to Gangnam Hospital starting from the 16th, two days before symptom onset, and has identified 133 in-hospital contacts placed under self-quarantine classification. The 133 contacts consist of 17 hospital staff members, 14 hospitalized patients, and 102 outpatient visitors. Among these, specimen collection has been completed for 34 close contacts and testing is underway, with 29 currently tested negative and 5 still undergoing testing, and in-depth epidemiological investigations are ongoing.

Additionally, the province is tracking users of facilities visited by confirmed cases related to clubs in the province. ▲May 10th: Saeng-goggi Jayakso Beomgye branch and Gangnam Oppa-ne in Dongan-gu, Anyang City ▲May 12th: The Jjak, New York Night Market Anyang 1st Avenue branch, Yosul-jan in Manan-gu, Anyang City ▲May 13th: Poseason Fish PC room in Gunpo City ▲May 14th: Lululala coin noraebang, Eat and See Yang Skewers, Lotteria Anyang branch in Manan-gu, Anyang City ▲May 16th: Game Inus PC room in Dongan-gu, Anyang City ▲May 14th, 15th, 17th: Jaku and others in Manan-gu, Anyang City. The province has requested that residents who visited these locations during the times confirmed cases visited them on the relevant dates undergo testing at the nearest health center regardless of symptoms.

Meanwhile, as of 0:00 on the 20th, the number of confirmed cases in Gyeonggi Province is 734, an increase of 9 from 0:00 the previous day (11,110 nationally). Among confirmed cases in Gyeonggi Province, 615 have been discharged, and 103 are currently in isolation at hospitals and community treatment centers. As of 0:00 on the 20th, the province has secured 528 treatment beds across 16 hospitals through cooperation with 3 national designated hospitals, 5 public medical institutions in Gyeonggi Province, and 8 private general hospitals in the province; currently 18.6% of beds are in use, which is 98 beds.