Asan Medical Center (AMC), one of the “Big Five” hospitals in Korea, said Friday that it shut down and sterilized some of its facilities after confirming a Covid-19 patient’s visit.

According to the hospital, a 69-year-old man who took the Covid-19 test at a public health center in Gangbuk-gu, northern Seoul, on Thursday, visited AMC a day later. AMC was informed of the male’s positive test result from the public health center about two hours after the patient’s visit.

The patient was waiting for an outpatient appointment at 10 a.m. in the hospital. The hospital immediately found and quarantined the man in a negative pressure room. The facilities where the patient moved around, including a blood collection room, kiosk, electrocardiogram chamber, and a restaurant, were closed and disinfected by the hospital.

AMC will conduct an epidemiological investigation on all patients and their guardians who have an overlapping path with the confirmed person and individually contact them. The hospital employees who contacted or walked a similar path to the patient will receive a test for Covid-19 infection.

“There will be no setbacks in treatment due to the partial shutdown because there are many other blood collection rooms, electrocardiogram chambers, and imaging rooms for outpatients in the hospital,” an AMC official said. “The closed facilities will open depending on the investigation results by the public health authorities.”

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