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Two days ago, a man in his 70s was found dead in a gosiwon in Seoul after being confirmed with COVID-19. After that, it took more than a full day for the man to be placed in the funeral home. There were institutional loopholes in dealing with corona patients who died outside the hospital.



Reporter Han Seong-hee reports exclusively.



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Two days ago, in front of Gosiwon in Gangdong-gu, Seoul. Police cars and ambulances arrive one after another.



In Goshiwon, there was a man in his 70s who was diagnosed with COVID-19 and died.



The paramedics wondered if they would put on protective suits, but after a while they just left.



Because of the risk of infection, a transport vehicle was needed to transport the body in a sealed condition.



The police informed the health center in charge of their duties, but they arrived three hours later.



This time it took some time to find an optometrist to examine the body.



[Health Center Manager: (Optometrician) is not going to do this, because he is a confirmed patient… .]



Even after the optometry, the man's body had to be left unattended.



The Funeral Association, which has signed a business agreement with the Seoul Metropolitan Government, is in charge of placing the confirmed dead, but in the meantime, the business hours are over.



[Person in charge of public health center: Only once a day (no registration), registration closes at 13:30.] After



contacting the Funeral Association, it took another time to search the funeral home that accepts the confirmed deceased.



[Funeral Association Staff: I need to receive the body at the funeral home, but I cannot arrange a funeral home that accepts it.

If you died in the hospital, you can proceed right away without any major problems...

.]



Eventually, the man who died was placed in the funeral home 25 hours after the discovery.



As most of the cases of COVID-19 confirmed deaths occurred during hospital treatment, the health authorities explained that the relevant response was insufficient.



[Health Center Manager: (Future) There is a lot of conversion to home treatment now.

Many people die at home.

A lot of similar situations can happen.] The



quarantine authorities' guidelines for handling COVID-19 deaths do not include specific regulations for handling the bodies of confirmed dead outside hospitals.



If the With Corona becomes a reality, there is a possibility that the number of corona deaths outside the hospital will increase, so it is urgent to supplement the system.



(Video coverage: Yang Doo-won, video editing: Yumira)