Authorities: "Suwon Death Suspected Stroke, COVID-19 Test 'Negative'"

Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] A man in his 40s who recently visited China has died in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, and reports have emerged that he was a suspected COVID-19 patient. Health authorities stated, "We are investigating the details," and clarified, "We suspect death due to a stroke, and the COVID-19 test result was negative."

According to police and fire authorities, on the morning of the 13th, a report was received that a 41-year-old man lost consciousness and collapsed at his home in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province. The man was immediately transported to a nearby hospital by responding firefighters but died around 9 a.m., about an hour after being transferred.

It is known that the man had visited Qingdao, China, on the 30th of last month. Considering his travel history, the hospital where he was taken conducted a COVID-19 test. Some media outlets reported this as "a suspected COVID-19 patient awaiting testing has died."

Amid growing controversy, Jung Eun-kyung, Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, stated at the regular COVID-19 briefing that day, "Based on what we have confirmed about the Suwon case, we suspect the death was due to a stroke," and added, "The Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment received the specimen at 10:30 a.m. today and conducted the test, confirming a negative result around 1:30 p.m."

The article initially reporting that "a suspected COVID-19 patient awaiting testing died in Suwon" has since been deleted.