- Title: South Korea runs 'drive-thru' coronavirus testing centre in Daegu
- Date: 3rd March 2020
- Summary: DAEGU, SOUTH KOREA (MARCH 3, 2020) (REUTERS) CARS QUEUING AT DRIVE-THRU CORONAVIRUS SCREENING CENTRE MEDICAL STAFF IN PROTECTIVE SUIT HOLDING TEST KIT NEXT TO CAR CAR DRIVING AWAY MEDICAL STAFF IN PROTECTIVE SUITS GATHERING CAR ARRIVING AT DRIVE-THRU CORONAVIRUS SCREENING CENTRE CAR PASSING BY AND DISINFECTANT BEING SPRAYED MEDICAL STAFF EXAMINING DRIVER IN CAR (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) DAEGU RESIDENT, CHA IN-HO, SAYING: "I don't have to come into contact with anyone else since I am staying inside the car. That's why I came here." VARIOUS OF MEDICAL STAFF COLLECTING SAMPLES FROM DRIVER BANNER READING (Korean): "IN ORDER TO PREVENT INFECTION, WE DO NOT CONDUCT WALK-IN TESTS" CAR DRIVING AWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) VICE DIRECTOR OF YEUNGNAM UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTRE, DOCTOR SEO WAN-SEOK, SAYING: "We can diagnose a lot of people in a short period of time, so we can effectively control the coronavirus. And then, secondly, we can minimize the infection. If the first patient is a confirmed case, the second patient might be infected even if that person tested negative, because they stayed in close proximity for a certain time. However, if each of them stays in their cars, then there's no chance of infection." VARIOUS OF MEDICAL STAFF IN PROTECTIVE SUIT TESTING DRIVER (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) VICE DIRECTOR OF YEUNGNAM UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTRE, DOCTOR SEO WAN-SEOK, SAYING: "If the virus is well-controlled, there's possibility that this growing (outbreak) can be gone down within the next two to three weeks. If not, even if the number of confirmed cases have been reduced by a little bit, there's still a possibility that it could be very difficult to control the flow of the secondary spread of infection. So we need to be very careful now." CARS QUEUING AT SCREENING CENTRE MEDICAL STAFF TESTING DRIVER CAR DRIVING AWAY
- Embargoed: 17th March 2020 11:00
- Keywords: COVIC-19 Daegu South Korea coronavirus doctor drive-thru interview screening centre test
- Location: DAEGU, SOUTH KOREA
- City: DAEGU, SOUTH KOREA
- Country: South Korea
- Topics: Health/Medicine
- Reuters ID: LVA001C3HXLJB
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: As demand for coronavirus testing soars across South Korea, health authorities at the epicentre of the country's outbreak are running "drive-thru" testing facilities.
Seo Wan-seok, vice director of the Yeungnam University Medical Centre that runs one of the "drive-thru" testing facilities in Daegu, said that this new type of testing prevents close contact between patients, which could in turn also prevent further transmission of the virus.
Medical workers in protective suits were seen collecting samples from drivers queuing up at the Yeungnam University Medical Centre "drive-thru" screening centre on Tuesday (March 3).
"I don't have to come into contact with anyone else since I am staying inside the car. That's why I came here," said Daegu resident Cha In-ho.
South Korea's president Moon Jae-in declared war on the coronavirus on Tuesday as the country has now reported 5,186 cases of the flu-like disease and 28 deaths in the worst epidemic of any nation outside China.
The virus which originated in China late last year began to spread rapidly in South Korea after it entered the congregation of a Christian sect in Daegu city, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.
(Production: Kyung-hoon Kim, Minwoo Park, Hyunyoung Yi) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2020. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None