CLUSTER INFECTION AT GERIATRIC HOSPITAL

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More than 50 people have tested positive for the coronavirus at a geriatric hospital in Busan. An epidemiological investigation has been launched to trace the source of the infections, and a special administrative order has been extended for the entire neighborhood where the hospital is located.

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The geriatric hospital in Busan where 53 people have tested positive for Covid-19 is currently under cohort isolation. The infected include five nurses, six caregivers and 42 in-patients. There are more than 270 staff members and patients in the hospital. They have all received testing. Most of the 53 infected persons — ten staff members and 43 patients -- were on the second floor of the hospital building. One infected patient has passed away. The government of Busan City is looking into the cause of four other recent deaths at the hospital, as the deceased had showed similar symptoms. The Busan City government believes that the hospital's patients with serious diseases such as dementia were unable to keep face masks on properly.

[Soundbite] AHN BYUNG-SEON(BUSAN CITY GOVERNMENT) : "Most of the patients are of an advanced age and highly likely to develop severe symptoms. We are on high alert, too."

Health authorities are trying to find out if there had been any contact between the hospital and a nearby nursing home. They are also testing some 30 staff members and patients at this nursing home. After more than 30 people tested positive for Covid-19 in Mandeok-dong, Busan, where the hospital in question is located, authorities issued an administrative order for the entire neighborhood on October 1, the first such order in the nation. The Busan City Government has decided to extend special quarantine measures in the neighborhood by two more weeks. Workers at all nursing facilities in the city of Busan are also required to receive testing.