Gimhae City Activates Special Quarantine Team for 'Ramadan' Cluster Infection... 10 Confirmed Cases

Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam, has set up a temporary screening clinic in line with the end of Ramadan events to respond to a COVID-19 cluster infection among the Muslim foreign community.
[Image source=Gimhae-si]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Gimhae City, Gyeongnam Province, announced on the 14th that it will operate a special quarantine team and make an all-out effort to respond to a cluster infection of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) among foreign Muslims.

After four family members of Uzbek nationality who run an Uzbek grocery store in Dongsang-dong tested positive on the 12th and 13th, the city set up a temporary screening clinic on the 13th at the Gaya Theme Park parking lot, where a Ramadan closing ceremony hosted by the Uzbek Islamic Center was held. They conducted preemptive testing on 72 foreigners who visited the Uzbek grocery store and those showing symptoms, and by 11 a.m. on the 14th, they identified 10 additional confirmed cases.

When confirmed cases were found during the screening on that day, the city immediately mobilized interpreters to conduct epidemiological investigations of the confirmed cases, imposed quarantine measures as necessary, and completed sterilization and disinfection of 15 grocery stores in areas densely populated by foreigners.

Additionally, the city installed a temporary screening clinic to allow foreigners attending religious events to be tested quickly, requested cooperation from Islamic leaders, and encouraged testing for foreigners who had contact with confirmed cases and those showing symptoms. At the same time, it urged restraint in visiting other regions or inviting foreigners.

Regarding this religious event, the city consulted in advance with Islamic religious leaders and the police about the worship venue, and sent staff to the event site at the Gaya Theme Park parking lot to ensure strict compliance with quarantine rules such as maintaining appropriate distances between groups and individuals, registering with the 080 Safe Call system, and prohibiting food consumption.

Meanwhile, as of the end of March, the number of registered foreigners in the Gimhae area was 16,640. By nationality, the largest populations are Vietnamese, Uzbek, Korean-Chinese, Chinese, Indonesian, and Sri Lankan, in that order.