A Late Response at Correctional Facilities: Four COVID-19-positive Inmates at Detention Center Sue Government for Compensation

[경향신문]

On the afternoon of January 3, an inmate at Dongbu Detention Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul showed the press a note, which read, “I want to go into solitary confinement. There are still 7 people here (all COVID-19-positive).” Kwon Do-hyun

The government decided to distribute KF94 masks to all inmates everyday in order to prevent another cluster of COVID-19 transmissions, such as the one that started at the Seoul Dongbu Detention Center. Authorities will also conduct rapid antigen tests on all employees every week. Inmates who contracted COVID-19 at Dongbu Detention Center filed the first lawsuit against the state for compensation.

On January 6, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters announced that it established future plans to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus in correctional facilities after receiving a report from the justice ministry on its response to COVID-19 in connection to Dongbu Detention Center. So far, authorities have conducted diagnostic tests of all employees and inmates at Dongbu Detention Center six times. As of midnight this day, 66 more cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in connection to the detention center, pushing the total number of cases related to the correctional facility up to 1,118. The justice ministry announced that as of 5 p.m. this day, a total of 1,203 cases of COVID-19 were confirmed in detention centers nationwide.

According to the Ministry of Justice, among the inmates at Dongbu Detention Center, the ministry relocated a total of 972 inmates who were either COVID-19-positive or who had come in close contact with a patient to other correctional facilities on five occasions. As of December 18, 2,292 inmates were detained at Dongbu Detention Center, and now that number has dropped to 1,320. The actual number of inmates at Dongbu dropped from 116.7% of the facility’s capacity to 63.7%.

The justice ministry explained that they were concentrating on lowering the population density in the facility, because more than 50% of the positive cases came from the group of those who tested positive for the virus and those who came in contact with a positive patient. Kim Jae-sul, manager of medical services at the justice ministry explained, “In the fifth round of tests, we confirmed 222 people who came in close contact with a COVID-19 patient and isolated all of them in single rooms,” and said, “If we keep them under quarantine, we will be able to control the contagion.”

However, some experts pointed out that given the incubation period of the novel coronavirus, relocating inmates who did not come in contact with a COVID-19 patient and who tested negative for the virus at Dongbu Detention Center to other correctional facilities could actually increase the risk of contagion. The justice ministry explained that they were blocking all travel from the quarantined area to block any transmission. In other words, since the government lowered the number of inmates in the facility and put confirmed patients and close contacts under quarantine, it should be able to stop the spread of the virus as long as it properly manages the inmates who tested negative for the virus. The justice ministry plans to distribute KF94 masks everyday to inmates and conduct rapid antigen tests once a week for all employees at correctional facilities to block further contagion.

Experts mentioned the need to improve testing. Lee Jae-gap, a professor of infectious diseases at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital said, “The percentage of filtering out asymptomatic patients with the rapid antigen test is low, so it is not appropriate in large facilities with a risk of contagion like correctional facilities,” and suggested, “They need to conduct PCR tests.” Dr. Lee further said, “They should conduct pooled PCR tests, which enables them to test specimen from a number of people at once, to save time and money.” Kim Woo-joo, a professor of infectious diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital said, “Even if they conduct the tests weekly, if they miss a person, that person can go around and spread the virus,” and added, “It is important to practice everyday preventive measures, such as checking for fevers and respiratory symptoms and wearing masks at all times.”

Some people pointed out that the government’s effort to improve the environment in the correctional facility, such as easing the overcrowded environment, was lacking. The Korean Federation of Medical Activist Groups for Health Rights released a statement and said, “The government should have taken immediate action, given that inmates are particularly vulnerable to infectious diseases, in the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. It should have considered releasing the inmates or non-confinement measures and immediately resolve the problem of the overcrowded environment, but such actions were never taken.”

Meanwhile, this day, four inmates at Dongbu Detention Center who tested positive for COVID-19 filed a lawsuit at the Seoul Central District Court, each seeking a 10-million-won compensation from the state for physical and mental damages they suffered due to the poor management by the state, such as inadequate preventive measures. This was the first lawsuit against the state for compensation in connection to a cluster of transmissions at a correctional facility.