On the 26th, citizens are waiting to receive COVID-19 diagnostic tests at a screening clinic. The photo is unrelated to the article. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@
[Asia Economy (Daejeon·Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Overnight, 27 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 were reported in Daejeon and Chungnam.
According to Daejeon City and Chungnam Province as of 10:30 PM the previous day on the 27th, in Chungnam, 3 cases were confirmed in Cheonan (Cheonan 442nd~444th), 17 in Gongju (Gongju 31st~47th), 1 in Seosan (Seosan 47th), and 1 in Dangjin (Dangjin 20th).
In particular, a large cluster of confirmed cases emerged related to Purume Nursing Hospital in Gongju. Since the outbreak of a group infection on the 24th, a total of 42 cumulative confirmed cases (including secondary infections) have been reported as of the 26th.
Earlier, on the 24th, after two staff members?a nurse and a nursing assistant?at the nursing hospital tested positive for COVID-19, 286 people including 185 patients and 101 hospital staff were tested.
As a result, on the following day, the 25th, 10 patients and 3 caregivers tested positive for COVID-19.
Additionally, through the nursing assistant (Sejong 89th) who was the first confirmed case at Purume Nursing Hospital, an acquaintance (Gyeonggi Goyang 604th) and a family of three in Sejong City (Sejong 91st~93rd) were consecutively infected with COVID-19.
In Daejeon as well, a woman in her 60s (Daejeon 465th) was classified as a confirmed case related to Purume Nursing Hospital, showing a pattern of secondary infections spreading between cities and provinces via nursing hospitals.
Fortunately, the authorities have currently designated Purume Nursing Hospital as a cohort isolation facility and are managing it, confirming that there are no additional confirmed patients’ movement paths.
The pattern of confirmed cases in Daejeon is also concerning. Although there was a relative lull until mid-month, the number of confirmed cases has recently begun to rise again. For example, from the 1st to the 20th of this month, 15 confirmed cases were reported, whereas from the 22nd to the 26th, the same number of 15 cases occurred in just 4 days.
This means the speed of increase in confirmed cases has accelerated again, with 5 new cases reported in the region in just one day on the 26th.
The list of confirmed cases on this day includes the spouse of a woman recently arrived from Turkey (Daejeon 466th), two men (Daejeon 467th and 469th) classified as close contacts after contact with confirmed cases from Seoul and Jecheon, and Daejeon 470th who was confirmed through workplace infection.
Among them, the infection route of Daejeon 468th, who was confirmed positive on this day, has not yet been identified. The authorities are currently conducting an epidemiological investigation into this case’s infection route.
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