Teenager who died four days after quarantine was lifted… Surviving family “lack of management”

A teenage high school student who received home treatment in Gwangju died four days after being released from quarantine. This student received up to the second dose of the vaccine and was healthy enough to be active in the sports club, but his condition worsened after the quarantine was lifted. Bereaved families claim that they did not receive proper care during home treatment.

This is reporter Jeong Jin-myung.

[기자]

A 17-year-old group A, who tested positive for COVID-19 on January 24 of this year.

The quarantine was lifted after a week of home treatment, but on February 4, four days after the release, Army A died.

I was five days away from my 18th birthday.

The day before his death, he complained of chest pain and shortness of breath and was taken to the hospital, but he never got up.

The cause of death, as determined by the hospital, was a pulmonary embolism, in which a blood clot blocked the pulmonary artery.

Group A, with a strong physique, had been active in the school sports team and had received up to the second dose of vaccine.

[A군 어머니 : 엄마의 무지로 아들이 그렇게 된 것 같아서 가슴이 터질 것 같아요. 지금. 너무나 미안해서.]

Bereaved families claim that group A did not receive proper care during home treatment.

There was no communication with hospitals or health authorities, such as phone calls.

He said that he had to use the basic kit, such as an oxygen saturation meter, which is provided to home-treated patients, by his son, who is a minor.

As a result, he said that it was questionable whether the monitoring was accurate.

After the quarantine measures were lifted, his condition suddenly deteriorated, but he also said that he did not receive appropriate measures due to the lifting of monitoring.

It took 4 hours to report abnormal symptoms and transfer to the hospital.

[A군 어머니 : 혈전이 생기면 이러이러한 증상이 나타난다. 그랬을 때 이럴 때 전화를 주고 이럴 때 이런 조치를 하고. 이런 식으로 해줬더라면.]

The health authorities explained that after the home treatment was finished, the measures were taken according to the regulations.

[광주광역시 관계자 : 당겨진 기준에 적용돼서 7일간 격리를 한 거고, 응급실 119로 전화를 해라 그렇게 안내를 했어요.]

The bereaved family requested an autopsy, stating that the connection with COVID-19 and whether the measures of the health authorities were appropriate.