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Entrance of a nursing home in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province placed under cohort isolation on Friday after a nurse's aide tested positive for COVID-19. (Yonhap) |
A nursing home in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province has been put into cohort isolation after a nurse’s aide tested positive for the new coronavirus, city officials said Friday.
The 142 residents of the staff at Bucheon Hanna Nursing Home and 22 of its staff were put on lockdown as of Friday over concerns of the facility becoming a cluster of infection.
The remainder of the nursing home’s roughly 90 staff were put into self-isolation or directed not to come to work.
“The city will supply necessary medical supplies to the hospital (the nursing home), and we plan to supplement personnel in coordination with relevant associations,” said a city official.
The official added additional information will be shared on the city’s website accordingly.
The 49-year-old nurse’s aide is believed to have contracted the virus after coming into contact at church with a virus patient who works at a Seoul call center where mass infections occurred.
The nurse’s aide was found to have come into contact with some 180 people at the facility and home between March 11-12.
She reportedly told investigators that she did not have symptoms while on duty and that she wore a face mask and medical gloves at the nursing home.
One inpatient in intensive care, who tested negative for the disease, is to be relocated to a different facility, the city said.
Patients with mild illness are also to be moved to other health centers after undergoing testing for the virus.
By Kim Bo-gyung (
lisakim425@heraldcorp.com)
