[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter]It has been confirmed that the Ministry of National Defense instructed the Cheonghae Unit 34th contingent to bring rapid antigen test kits before departure, but due to a mistake by the staff, they were not loaded onto the Munmu Daewang ship.
Had they brought the rapid antigen test kits, isolation and other preventive measures could have been implemented earlier when symptoms first appeared, potentially reducing the damage caused by the cluster infection. Therefore, it seems inevitable that those responsible will be held accountable.
The Navy stated on the 23rd through a notice, "After receiving the 'Guidelines for the Use of Rapid Antigen Tests' document issued by the Ministry of National Defense at the end of last year, we distributed the usage guidelines to subordinate ships," adding, "Although the Munmu Daewang ship was also instructed to be supplied with rapid antigen test kits, it departed without loading them due to insufficient quarantine before dispatch and lack of confirmation among the operational units."
Some have criticized that the Navy should have sent rapid antigen test kits even after the Cheonghae Unit's departure.
Previously, in response to criticism about not bringing rapid antigen test kits, the Navy explained, "It was not to prepare them, but the guidelines stated that due to low accuracy, they should be used only as an auxiliary tool for symptomatic individuals," but this explanation has been revealed to be incorrect.
Regarding this, the Navy said, "During the process of confirming media inquiries, the Navy Headquarters Medical Office failed to recognize that the 'Guidelines for the Use of Rapid Antigen Test Kits' document issued by the Navy Headquarters included the Munmu Daewang ship, resulting in the incorrect explanation."
It has been reported that the Navy supplied only 800 'rapid antibody test kits' instead of rapid antigen test kits to the Cheonghae Unit 34th contingent. Rapid antibody test kits only confirm that an immune response to the COVID-19 virus has occurred, but cannot determine the presence of the virus itself, making them unsuitable for infection diagnosis purposes.
On the Munmu Daewang ship, the first person with cold symptoms appeared on the 2nd, but the unit thought it was a simple cold and did not report it to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, administering only cold medicine. As cold patients increased, the unit conducted rapid antibody tests on about 40 people on the 10th, eight days later, all of which were negative, and PCR tests for symptomatic individuals were only conducted three days later on the 13th.
There are criticisms that if rapid antigen tests had been used instead of rapid antibody tests, isolation and other preventive measures could have been implemented a little earlier, potentially reducing the scale of the cluster infection.
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