South Korea attempts to contain COVID-19 outbreak in prison
30 December, 2020
Southern Korean authorities scrambled to include a cluster of coronavirus infections in a Seoul prison as inmates waved signs and symptoms through barred home windows pleading for help, as the US military got Southern Korea's nod to vaccinate South Korean troops.
There were 1,050 fresh cases nationally by Tuesday midnight, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said about Wednesday (Dec 30), bringing the full total case tally to 59,773 and death toll to 879.
A good prison in southeastern Seoul experienced 771 inmates and 21 personnel infected, bringing the full total amount of infections from the service to 792, the justice ministry told Reuters.
Justice Minister Choo Mi-ae on Tuesday visited the prison and ordered the separation of infected inmates and the growth of granting parole to exemplary prisoners, the ministry said found in a statement.
Meanwhile, media displayed pics of the inmates holding up signs reading "Please preserve us".
The KDCA had said an inmate with underlying conditions had died this week from COVID-19.
The US army will vaccinate South Korean troops serving under a joint command against the coronavirus following a request from US Forces Korea (USFK), South Korea's defence ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan told a briefing.
"We've notified USFK of our approval to vaccinate South Korean nationals on the premise that inoculation can be voluntary and the set of administered will be shared," Boo said.
The American troops stationed in South Korea on Tuesday received the first doses of COVID-19 vaccine. USFK includes round 28,500 American armed service personnel together with thousands of other workers and family members.
Authorities could further tighten community distancing guidelines this weekend due to year-end travels increased the chance of more confirmed situations, Primary Minister Chung Sye-kyun told a government meeting.
"We've relatively low fee of confirmed conditions to population, but about 40 % of the cumulative confirmed cases occurred in the past month," Chung explained. "This wave of attacks is becoming the biggest crisis."
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