Health authorities have decided to test 160,000 patients, staff and visitors of senior care facilities, mental hospitals and adult day care centers in the capital region for COVID-19 after a large cluster of infections was reported in Busan.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced on Wednesday that it will work with local governments in Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon to carry out the testing.
Earlier in the day, more than 50 people were confirmed to have contracted the virus at a convalescent hospital in the southeastern port city.
The KDCA said the latest move is a precautionary measure to protect those most vulnerable to the coronavirus, adding facilities that serve the elderly are considered high-risk spaces.
<Photo: Yonhap News>
