Lee Jin-man/AP
- A 37-year-old South Korean man is said to have died by suicide in a South Korean COVID treatment facility.
- He had contracted COVID in February, and was sent to the facility on March 7. He was found dead on March 10.
- He had earlier been charged with flouting South Korea's quarantine guidelines.
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A 37-year-old South Korean man is said to have died by suicide in a South Korean COVID treatment facility, after being charged with violating the country's strict laws on quarantining and self-isolating, according to Yonhap News.
The man, known to authorities as "A," had contracted COVID in February, and was sent to the facility on March 7.
He was found unconscious in his room at the Yeongjong treatment facility in Incheon, a city just outside of Seoul, on March 10.
Newspim Korea reported that health officials called for emergency assistance, but when the fire department arrived at the scene, "A" had already entered a state of cardiac arrest.
He was later pronounced dead at the Incheon Medical Center.
According to Korean news website The Fact, the man was a teacher, and had earlier violated a quarantine order when he left his home to conduct lessons. He had been nabbed by health officers at the Incheon-Namdong-gu health center when he left the house during a mandatory period of self-isolation.
A report by Yonhap News said that the man had been sent to the Yeongjong treatment center after testing positive for Covid-19 on March 7, and had subsequently been charged by the local authorities for breaking the country's laws regarding the prevention and management of infectious diseases.
He was then found face-down in his isolation room three days later on March 10.
Police officers and Namdong-gu authorities who spoke to The Fact confirmed the man's death by suicide, but added that they would not comment further as this was "a personal matter."
His body has been transferred to the morgue at Incheon Medical Center. The local authorities are currently investigating the circumstances of his death.