At the psychiatric ward of Daenam hospital, the windows are always closed to prevent suicide. Patient sleeps in the same room on mattresses.

Daenam Hospital, Cheongdo District, North Gyeongsang Province, along with Shincheonji Church (New Heaven) in Daegu City, are two Covid-19 outbreaks in South Korea.

Of the more than 4,000 nCoV infections in the country, 101 were from the psychiatric department of Daenam Hospital, accounting for 98% of the department's patients, of whom 7 died.

By the time nCoV entered the psychiatric department early last month, Daenam hospital officials and South Korean health authorities faced a tough decision. They must blockade the psychiatric department with its patients.

For the Korean public, the blockade of psychiatry is a controversial decision, touching on ethical issues and prevention effect, again taking place in the context of authorities struggling to control the disease. . On the other hand, South Korean officials have previously pledged not to follow China's approach of mass blockade of cities.

The Covid-19 outbreak at Daenam Hospital reflects the challenges faced by health facilities, nursing homes and other inpatient facilities if faced with an epidemic.

The South Korean health agency announced Monday that it would move patients from the psychiatric ward of Daenam Hospital. According to the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Jung Eun-kyeong, this was a "painful" but "force majeure" decision.

Even so, the blockade of psychiatry still raises questions. Such an inpatient department is the perfect environment for the virus to spread, a physician committee from the Korea National Medical Center (NMC) reviews.

According to a report released by the committee on February 26, the closed window in the psychiatric ward prevented the air from circulating. Hand sanitizer should not be left out because patients can drink it. For continuous patient monitoring, even the bathroom was not divided.

"When the virus enters the enclosed area, it spreads very quickly," psychiatrist Lee So-hee from NMC said. "The patients' immune systems are inherently weak, so the virus has a better chance of attacking them."

Baik Jae-joong, a pulmonologist at Green Hospital in Seoul, said authorities should not lock nCoV-infected patients in such enclosed spaces.

"Basically, they are left to die," Baik said. "Patients are isolated in the same environment that makes them infected. This is a medical disaster and a taboo of ethics."

Kim Sung-yeon, director of Solidarity Against Disability, said a patient in Daenam was "freed by death" after 20 years in the psychiatric ward of Daenam Hospital. According to Kim, the patient weighed only 42 kg when he died.

Kwon Jun-wook, deputy director of KCDC, said on February 29 that patients who die at Daenam Hospital are in poor health due to long-term hospitalization.

Daenam Hospital announced it was investigating how the virus invades the psychiatric ward, which is always locked.

Local media reported that members of the New Heavenly sect attended a funeral at Daenam Hospital in January. Nearly half of all nCoV infections in Korea are related to this cult.

Daenam Hospital said the cult leader's younger brother died at the hospital in January and the funeral was held in the basement of the hospital on February 2. Psychiatric patients have developed symptoms since mid-February.