7 Reconfirmed COVID-19 Cases Among Residents and Staff Returning to 'Pureun Nursing Home'...17 Reconfirmed Cases in Gyeongbuk

12 Reconfirmed Cases Over 2-4 Days... Health Authorities on Alert

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Four residents and three staff members who were readmitted to the Pureun Nursing Home in Bonghwa, Gyeongbuk, tested positive for COVID-19, prompting health authorities to raise an alert. The Pureun Nursing Home had resumed operations at the end of last month after being closed due to a COVID-19 outbreak, but seven staff and readmitted residents tested positive again.

According to Gyeongbuk Province on the 5th, after the COVID-19 outbreak, all residents were tested and those who tested positive were transferred to hospitals. Four residents who were declared recovered and readmitted between the 26th of last month and the 1st of this month tested positive again. Three staff members also tested positive again after returning to work following recovery from a previous infection.

Health authorities conducted tests on all residents, including those admitted on the 3rd, after some of the readmitted individuals showed mild fever symptoms, confirming positive cases. So far, 68 confirmed cases and seven deaths have been reported at Pureun Nursing Home.

With four readmitted residents and three staff members testing positive again, the number of reinfected individuals in Gyeongbuk has risen to 17. Twelve of these cases were confirmed over just three days, from the 2nd to the 4th.

In Gyeongsan, a woman in her 20s was confirmed positive on the 3rd of last month, received treatment, and was declared recovered on the 22nd, but tested positive again on the 3rd of this month. A man in his 40s from Gimcheon, identified as A, tested positive on February 26th, was treated at Gimcheon Medical Center, discharged on the 23rd of last month, but was confirmed positive again on March 11th and transferred back to Gimcheon Medical Center.

A health official explained, "They underwent retesting due to mild symptoms and tested positive again." The quarantine authorities are conducting epidemiological investigations on these cases but have yet to determine whether these are relapses or reinfections caused by other factors.

Earlier, as confirmed cases continued to emerge at Pureun Nursing Home, Bonghwa County transferred all residents to hospitals and residential treatment centers, leaving the nursing home empty to prevent further spread. After confirmed cases recovered and completed their isolation periods, residents and staff returned, and the nursing home partially resumed operations on the 26th of last month.