Gwangju COVID-19 Patient Who Turned Off Smartphone and Disappeared, Apprehended in Yeonggwang (Update)

COVID-19 screening clinic set up at Seocho-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. Photo by Yonhap News.

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Yeon-ju] The whereabouts of a man in his 60s who went missing after testing positive for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) have been secured.

According to health authorities and the police on the 7th, the whereabouts of the 118th confirmed patient in Gwangju Metropolitan City, who had gone missing, were secured at around 9:10 a.m. at an undisclosed location in Yeonggwang County.

The confirmed patient reportedly left his home after receiving a phone call from health authorities notifying him of his positive test result at around 11 p.m. on the 6th, and immediately turned off his mobile phone.

Just before disappearing, he was said to have told a health official during a phone call that he had to work and had no will to live.

In response, the police mobilized 250 officers to search around his home in Yongsan-dong, Dong-gu, Gwangju, and it was investigated that the 118th confirmed patient, who went missing for about 10 hours, was caught while going to work at a construction site.

The 118th confirmed patient, who worked as a day laborer, was found to have traveled to Yeonggwang to find work and had close contact with company officials and others.

This confirmed patient was included in the epidemiological investigation as he had contact with the 85th patient in Gwangju, and it is known that the infection chain was linked to Gwangju Sarang Church.

The authorities plan to transfer the 118th confirmed patient from Yeonggwang to a university hospital in Gwangju for treatment, and will identify contacts and conduct diagnostic tests through epidemiological investigations.