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COVID-19 patients are transported to the Busan Medical Center. (provided by the city of Busan)

Fifty-three patients and employees at Haetteurak Convalescent Hospital in Busan’s Buk (North) District tested positive for COVID-19. Disease control authorities have responded with alarm to the new infection cluster arising in a high-risk facility with many senior citizen residents. The South Korean government plans to conduct preemptive full-scale testing of around 160,000 employees at senior citizen and mental hospitals, which include large numbers of people considered to be at high risk.

On Oct. 14, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced that as of 12 pm that day, 53 cases had been diagnosed in connection with Haetteurak Convalescent Hospital. The number includes 42 patients, five nursing staff, and six caregivers. One of the cases was a patient who passed away on Oct. 12 and received a positive result in a postmortem test. The diagnoses came after testing of all 264 individuals associated with the hospital, including 165 patients and 99 employees, with testing likely to be expanded to include recently discharged patients and employees of outside businesses as well.

The first confirmed case involved a nurse’s aide working at the hospital. The patient in question was found to have first experienced fever symptoms while on night duty on Oct. 8. The symptoms disappeared the following day on Oct. 9, but the individual underwent testing after experiencing a slight fever again on Oct. 10. After additional testing, the patient tested positive on Oct. 13. Haetteurak Convalescent Hospital is currently subject to cohort quarantining measures.

In a briefing the same day, the city of Busan said, “Seven out of eight patients who died since last month appear to have had breathing difficulties.” Four out of the seven shared a ward with the patient who was posthumously diagnosed. The nurse’s aide who was the first confirmed case tended to the posthumously diagnosed patient for a full day on Oct. 7. The city of Busan is now looking into a possible connection between the deaths and the COVID-19 cluster.

“Since it can be unclear whether breathing difficulties are the result of pneumonia or heart disease, we will need to examine the medical records,” explained Ahn Byeong-seon, director of Busan’s disease prevention team.

By Kwon Ji-dam, staff reporter, and Kim Kwang-soo, Busan correspondent

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