One More Ministry of Foreign Affairs Staff Confirmed Positive... Infection Suspected at Jeju Guesthouse (Update)

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Another case of COVID-19 infection has been confirmed at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the annex of the Government Seoul Office Building. It is presumed to be related to an infection linked to a guesthouse in Jeju Island.

According to the Government Office Management Headquarters of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety on the 31st, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs employee working on the 9th floor of the annex of the Government Seoul Office Building tested positive for COVID-19 on the same day.

This employee stayed at the 'Rooftop Garden' guesthouse, where a recent cluster infection occurred, while traveling in Jeju Island until the 24th. The employee was classified as a close contact of Jeju patient number 38 and underwent specimen testing the day before.

The Seoul Office Management Office of the Government Office Management Headquarters urgently disinfected the 9th-floor office in the annex where the employee worked and conducted disinfection throughout the entire building. In addition, 13 people presumed to be contacts, including coworkers in the same office, were instructed to self-quarantine without coming to work in preparation for the employee’s confirmed case.

Currently, the Epidemiological Investigation Team of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is conducting additional on-site measures and epidemiological investigations, and the Seoul Office Management Office is also checking the employee’s movements through CCTV within the building.

With the additional confirmed case of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs employee, the total number of COVID-19 cases among workers at the Government Seoul Office Building has increased to six. Previously, the first confirmed case was a Personal Information Protection Commission employee working on the 3rd floor of the main building in July. Subsequently, from the 22nd to the 24th, three employees including Ministry of Foreign Affairs staff and cleaning workers in the annex were confirmed positive, and on the 26th, a security guard who used the waiting room on the 3rd floor of the main building was also confirmed, totaling five confirmed cases before this latest case.