Homeless people lie down amid a cold snap at the square of Seoul Station on Jan. 29, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 10 (Korea Bizwire) — With a skyrocketing number of coronavirus infections each day, homeless people are being sidelined from proper quarantine.
Homeless people infected with COVID-19 continue to roam about in underground tunnels near Seoul Station. Some are seen without their masks on, while they gather in groups of 10 people or more to drink alcohol.
“I got two shots of AstraZeneca, and I still got infected. I don’t feel sick at all, though,” said a 66-year-old homeless man who has been out on the streets for 11 days after being notified that he had tested positive.
“Since there are no rooms available in hospitals and quarantine facilities, they told me to stay here, staying out of the rain and snow as much as I can,” he added.
A gosiwon (a low-cost boarding housing facility) in Yongsan District, frequented by homeless people in the area, saw its first COVID-19 case on Nov. 22, and second and third cases on Nov. 26 and 28.
Eight more infections were reported on Nov. 30. As of Dec. 2, more than 30 people had been infected at the facility.
“The infection has spread because it took six days to quarantine the first COVID-19 patient there,” said Lee Dong-hyeon, an activist at Homeless Action.
“Whoever is infected should be the first one to be brought out of the facility. Instead, they took out those who had tested negative.”
The infected patient was kept inside the facility despite the fact that the place was unsuited for self-quarantine, particularly because of its shared kitchen and restroom.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
