Man thought to have died by suicide at a South Korean COVID-19 treatment facility while in isolation

• A 37-year-old South Korean man is said to have died by suicide in a COVID-19 treatment facility.
• He got COVID-19 in February and was sent to the facility Sunday. He was found dead Wednesday.
• He had earlier been charged with flouting South Korea's quarantine guidelines.

A 37-year-old South Korean man is said to have died by suicide in a South Korean COVID-19 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-19 in February and was sent to the facility Sunday.

He was found unconscious in his room at the Yeongjong treatment facility in Incheon, a city just outside Seoul, on Wednesday.

Newspim Korea reported that health officials called for emergency assistance but that when the fire department arrived at the scene, the man 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 the man had been sent to the Yeongjong treatment center after testing positive for the coronavirus on Sunday and had subsequently been charged by the local authorities with breaking the country's laws regarding the prevention and management of infectious diseases.

He was then found facedown in his isolation room three days later.

Police officers and Namdong-gu authorities who spoke with The Fact confirmed the man's death 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 investigating the circumstances of his death.