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| A bus carrying COVID-19 patients leaves a virus-hit apartment complex in Daegu, Sunday. The apartment complex had been under lockdown as a third of its residents were confirmed to be infected with the virus. Most of them were followers of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. / Korea Times photo by Kim Jea-hyun |
Number of COVID-19 infections exceeds 7,000
By Jun Ji-hye
The health authorities here are taking extra care with nursing homes, retirement complexes and other facilities housing the elderly as the COVID-19 epidemic has hit senior citizens harder than any other age group, officials said Sunday.
Medical experts said while a major cluster of infections linked to the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus is expected to slow in the coming weeks, the emergence of other mass infections at those facilities is posing a special challenge for the government's quarantine efforts to contain the spread of the new coronavirus.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) confirmed 179 new cases as of 9 p.m., Sunday, bringing the nation's total number of infections to 7,313. On Saturday, the KCDC detected 367 additional cases.
So far, 50 people have died from the virus, most of whom were elderly patients with underlying illnesses.
Several cases seen as mass infections have already been reported at nursing facilities and retirement complexes where the frailest of senior citizens reside.
According to North Gyeongsang Provincial Government, about 140 people have been confirmed to be infected with the virus at 23 nursing homes and other social welfare facilities in the province.
About a third of the patients are from a nursing home in Bonghwa in the province after two inpatients there tested positive for the coronavirus March 4.
A retirement complex located in Gyeongsan in the province has seen about 20 confirmed coronavirus infections since the first patient was reported there March 5.
Amid growing concern over the risk of mass infections facing the elderly, North Gyeongsang Provincial Government has decided to put all 573 social welfare facilities under cohort isolation from Monday to March 22 as a precautious measure.
Cohort isolation refers to the shutdown of entire facilities to prevent the spread of a virus.
"We have designated the social welfare facilities of the province as virus danger zones," North Gyeongsang Province Governor Lee Cheol-woo said during a briefing. "We will seal the entries of the facilities. This is not advice, but a compulsory measure."
Mass infections have been reported at Munsung Hospital in Daegu, and at Bundang Jesaeng Hospital in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
Both hospitals were closed to be disinfected to prevent further mass infections.
"Mass infections are increasing at hospitals, social welfare facilities and religious institutions," KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong said during a briefing. "What is the most important for now is to prevent the virus from spreading at nursing homes."
Cheon Eun-mi, a pulmonologist at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, said the next two to three weeks will be crucial in the government's fight against COVID-19.
"As the government's investigation into Shincheonji followers has been almost completed, the number of patients related to the church is expected to decrease. A bigger problem is that mass infections at large hospitals, nursing homes and apartments have occurred sporadically."
Citing the example of Italy, she said, "Most fatalities in Italy were those over 80, meaning the death rate among the elderly is higher. Elderly patients must receive treatment as inpatients."
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said earlier in the day that citizens' cooperation was essential in resolving a serious shortage of facial masks and ensuring their smooth distribution, encouraging people to use cotton ones instead of disposable ones.
Chung's televised message to the public came a day before the government's implementation of measures that call for citizens to buy only two protective masks per week from pharmacies on designated days of the week, in accordance with the final number of their year of birth.
