3 Kazakhstan-Related COVID-19 Cases Confirmed in Gyeonggi and Jeju

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] On the 4th, new confirmed cases of COVID-19 related to Kazakhstan were reported across the country.

Hwaseong City in Gyeonggi Province announced that a man in his 20s with Kazakhstani nationality, A (Hwaseong case number 44), tested positive for COVID-19 on this day. A entered the country through Incheon Airport the previous day, used his own car to move to a screening clinic in Hwaseong, got tested, and was confirmed positive on this day.

Initially, Hwaseong City announced around 2:30 PM that "A tested positive after undergoing testing before departing for his home country," but about three hours later, they corrected the statement, saying there was a mistake and that he had entered the country the previous day. Accordingly, A, who had been classified as an 'unknown infection case,' was reclassified as an imported infection case.

In Gapyeong County, Gyeonggi Province, a man in his 60s, B, who entered from Kazakhstan, tested positive. B entered through Incheon Airport on the 3rd, immediately visited the Gapyeong County Health Center screening clinic, got tested, and was confirmed positive. One family member who was found to have had contact with B has entered self-quarantine.

The 20th confirmed case in Jeju Province is C, who entered through Incheon International Airport from Kazakhstan the previous day. He arrived at Jeju International Airport in the afternoon, immediately underwent specimen collection at the walk-through screening clinic inside the airport, and then used a quarantine vehicle arranged by the province to move to accommodation designated by his company.

He received an 'undecided' result on the initial test immediately after arrival and was confirmed positive around noon on the same day after a second test. He was transferred to an isolation ward at Jeju National University Hospital. Since C was under health authorities' monitoring and self-quarantine from the time he arrived at the accommodation until the confirmation, it is expected that there are not many contacts.

The quarantine authorities are currently conducting epidemiological investigations, including tracing the recent movements of these individuals.