격리 중이던 베트남인 3명 탈출,...정부, 효율적인 격리 시설 관리 위해 민간 위탁<br /><br />Amid rising concerns over imported Covid-19 cases in South Korea, three Vietnamese entrants escaped from a quarantine facility in Gimpo on Monday.<br />To stop these imported cases from leading to local transmissions, the role of quarantine facilities is critical.<br />And to manage these isolation centers more effectively, South Korea will enlist the help of the private sector.<br />Lee Kyung-eun reports.<br />Some 5 hundred foreign entrants are housed in this hotel in Gimpo for a two-week mandatory quarantine.<br />But on Monday at around 3 AM, three Vietnamese nationals escaped from the facility,... using a descending life line from the 6th floor.<br />They were reported to the city,…after one employee spotted an emergency rope outside the building.<br />"They used the rope, not an elevator, and that's how the employee was able to know, because you could see it."<br />As of Tuesday, a total of 7-hundred-23 violations of self-quarantine have been reported, the majority coming from South Korean citizens.<br />17 percent of the violations were by foreigners.<br />For Korean nationals and long-term residents with a place to stay, violating self-quarantine usually means going outside the house.<br />But for those few foreigners without a place to stay, breaking quarantine actually requires breaking out of the isolation facility.<br />These cases pose the greatest threat to health authorities,... as they could lead to unpredictable patterns of transmission.<br />"It's much harder to track down their whereabouts because you can't use mobile GPS, card usage records, or CCTV footage. That means contact tracing is also very difficult. "<br />"Here in Myeongdong is where one of the quarantine centers in Seoul is located.<br />It's one of the busiest areas in the city, so if an infected entrant breaks quarantine and walks around the neighborhood, it could lead to a major cluster infection."<br />For a more effective management of some 80 centers across the country, South Korea has announced a new operational plan.<br />"We will share parts of the work with the private sector. Hotels, travel agencies and other companies will be in charge of payment, consultation, translation, and center management."<br />However, public officials will stay in charge of key quarantine tasks like deciding release dates and emergency responses.<br />Lee Kyung-eun, Arirang News.<br />
