[Fact Check] Is Seoul Seongdong Health Center the Only 'Negative Pressure Screening Clinic'?

President Moon Jae-in Visits Seongdong Report in Seoul on the 5th... Negative Pressure Screening Clinics, Not Temporary Facilities, Also in Gangnam-gu and Jungnang-gu

[Asia Economy Reporter Ryu Jeong-min] "I heard that Seongdong Public Health Center is the only one with a screening clinic equipped with negative pressure facilities that is not a temporary facility but built as a separate building."

When President Moon Jae-in visited Seongdong Public Health Center in Seongdong-gu, Seoul on the 5th and asked this, Kim Kyung-hee, head of Seongdong Public Health Center, replied, "Yes, that is what I understand." This conversation contained the 'special reason' why President Moon visited Seongdong Public Health Center to check the response to the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia).

A negative pressure room is an isolation ward where the internal pressure of the room is lowered. Since the air inside the room does not flow out and only outside air comes in, it can prevent the leakage of pathogens and viruses.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

During the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak, there was difficulty accommodating patients due to a shortage of negative pressure rooms. If Seongdong Public Health Center is the only facility, does that mean other public health centers have not yet prepared improvement plans? The facts contained in President Moon’s wording can be broadly divided into ▲ screening clinics equipped with negative pressure facilities ▲ separate buildings rather than temporary facilities.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of the 2nd, screening clinics for the novel coronavirus have been established in all 25 district public health centers in Seoul, including Gangnam-gu and Jungnang-gu. Negative pressure facilities have also been installed in public health centers other than Seongdong-gu, such as Gangnam-gu and Jungnang-gu.

Due to spatial limitations and management difficulties, some screening clinics have been set up in temporary facilities such as containers or tents. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon explained, "(In the past) screening clinics were basically tents, but since it is cold in winter, it seems good to have fixed structures like that." It is meaningful that Seongdong Public Health Center has established a screening clinic in a fixed facility.

Then, is Seongdong Public Health Center the only one to have a screening clinic in a non-temporary facility? Public health centers in Gangnam-gu and Jungnang-gu also established screening clinics equipped with negative pressure facilities after the MERS outbreak.

Gangnam-gu stated in a press release on March 24, 2016, "We are operating the first 'negative pressure examination room' among Seoul’s autonomous districts," explaining, "The area is 64㎡, constructed to the level of a nationally designated isolation ward. We separated the routes of visitors (suspected patients) and medical staff to prevent infection."

Jungnang-gu also announced in a press release on January 9, 2017, "We have built a screening clinic equipped with negative pressure facilities, a clean room, and ultraviolet sterilizers next to the public health center on the first floor of Jungnang-gu Office for infectious disease prevention."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Even focusing solely on the keyword 'separate building' in President Moon’s explanation, questions remain when examining the facts. Kim Kyung-hee, head of the public health center, explained, "Normally, it is used as a chronic infectious disease clinic such as for tuberculosis, and when an infectious disease occurs, it is converted and operated as a screening clinic according to the guidelines of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The building in question at Seongdong Public Health Center is also usually used as a clinic for tuberculosis and other diseases and is utilized as a screening clinic as needed. While Seongdong Public Health Center may be evaluated as having relatively good facilities, the explanation that it is the only screening clinic equipped with negative pressure facilities in a non-temporary facility is misleading.

As confusion continued regarding the facts surrounding the Seongdong Public Health Center facilities, the Blue House clarified to reporters on the evening of the 5th with the following message: "Seongdong Public Health Center is one of the public health centers in Seoul that has a screening clinic equipped with negative pressure facilities built as a separate building."