Emergency Disinfection Conducted on the 6th, 11th, and 15th Floors of the Government Building
[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Several confirmed cases of COVID-19 have occurred consecutively at the Seoul Government Complex Annex in Gwanghwamun, which is used as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs building, leading to the closure of some floors.
According to the Government Complex Management Headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 23rd, Ministry of Foreign Affairs employee A and cleaning staff B, who works for the Government Complex Management Headquarters, both working at the Jongno-gu Government Complex Annex, were confirmed positive for COVID-19 the day before.
This is the first time a confirmed case has been reported at the Government Complex Annex occupied by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In particular, the Government Complex is classified as a 'Grade A' critical facility with the highest level of importance to national security. Although one employee of the Personal Information Protection Commission in the main building of the Government Complex was confirmed positive in July, no confirmed cases had been reported in the annex until now.
It is presumed that both were infected by their spouses. Employee A works in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Operations Support Office on the 11th floor of the annex and resides in Hwaseong-si, Gyeonggi-do. After his wife was confirmed positive the day before, he was also diagnosed as 'positive' that same night.
The Operations Support Office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has about 70 employees, and approximately 10 employees work in the same space as A.
B resides in Gangbuk-gu, Seoul, and after her husband tested positive for COVID-19 on the 21st, she immediately underwent testing and was confirmed positive the previous evening. B mainly works on the 15th floor of the annex and is also known to have worked on the 6th floor.
Following the consecutive confirmed cases in the annex, the Seoul Government Complex Management Office of the Government Complex Management Headquarters took measures to quarantine employees who had contact with A and B, temporarily closed the main workspaces on the 11th, 15th, and 6th floors, and conducted emergency disinfection.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s epidemiological investigation team is scheduled to conduct additional on-site measures and epidemiological investigations. They are verifying the movements of the confirmed employees through CCTV within the building and cooperating with the relevant agencies and tenant organizations to identify contacts.
The Ministry of the Interior and Safety also disinfected the entire main and annex buildings of the Government Complex on the 23rd and plans to take additional measures such as testing and quarantining close contacts based on the epidemiological investigation results from health authorities and their own movement tracking.
A representative from the Seoul Government Complex Management Office said, "We are sharing related information with tenant organizations within the complex and guiding them to adhere to personal hygiene rules and refrain from moving within the complex to prevent the spread of infectious diseases to other employees. We will do our best to thoroughly block infectious diseases in advance," adding, "After disinfecting the entire complex during the remaining holidays, we plan to resume normal operations starting Monday."
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