First coronavirus cluster in Hiroshima City confirmed
April 14, 2020
Hiroshima city has announced that 17 patients and 5 staff have tested positive for coronavirus at a city “social welfare facility”.
Hiroshima City health officials discussed the cluster at a press conference held earlier this afternoon today, although the city health official did not share the name of the social welfare facility at the center of Hiroshima City’s first coronavirus cluster, nor the city ward in which it is located.
[UPDATE]
Kenshin Gakuen [見真学園 | Map], a residential care facility for people with learning disabilities, in Saeki-ku has been confirmed as the facility at the center of this cluster. The facility has published a notice on its website before city authorities announced details of the location.
What city authorities did tell us is that on March 29, a woman in her 20s who works at the facility had a meal with two Hiroshima City University students who have since tested positive for coronavirus. She began to feel unwell April 3, started to wear a mask and felt recovered on April 5. She was later contacted by authorities as part of the contact tracing protocol (due to her contact with the university students) and tested positive for coronavirus on April 13.
[UPDATE]
It was later revealed that 17 people were at the social event attended by the care worker in her 20s on March 29.
Of the people tested at the facility at which she works, 6 residents tested positive on April 13. This morning 4 more staff members and 11 more residents tested positive for the virus.
The facility in question has around 70 residents and has over 30 staff. According to Hiroshima City, 90 tests are currently underway.
The first 5 residents to test positive are in their 20s, 30s and 40s so it seems unlikely that this is an elderly care facility such as the facility at the center of the cluster in Miyoshi which came to light over the weekend.
This brings the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in Hiroshima Prefecture to 87 with 17 within Hiroshima City.
[UPDATE]
On the morning of April 15, 11 more residents and 7 staff are reported to have tested positive for coronavirus. This brings the total number of coronavirus cases in this cluster to 40.
Sources:
Chugoku Shinbun
広島市でクラスター 福祉施設職員と入所者計22人感染
Hiroshima City Documents (PDFs)
Case #16 (Facility staff member)
Cases #17-22 (Facility users)
Case #14 (Hiroshimma City University Student)
Case #15 (University City Univesity Student)
April 15
新たに１８人が感染 広島市のクラスター計４０人に
