This is going to be the new normal for a while of cluster infections popping up at indoor locations where people work or congregate:
A health product retailer is emerging as a new coronavirus cluster in the Seoul metropolitan area, officials said Friday.
The densely-populated area has been hit by a string of cluster infections originating from call centers, clubs, churches and warehouses.
According to quarantine authorities, the number of COVID-19 cases traced to the health product seller, called Richway, located in Seoul’s southwestern ward of Gwanak, increased by 19 from the previous day to 29 as of Friday noon. Eighteen of the 29 patients are from Seoul, with Gyeonggi, Incheon and South Chungcheong accounting for five, four and two, respectively.
The authorities are concerned, as most of Richway customers are in their 60s and 70s, who are known as the most vulnerable group for the coronavirus.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
USFK continues to identify newly arriving personnel with the coronavirus:
Two newly assigned American soldiers tested positive for the coronavirus after arriving in South Korea on a government-chartered flight from the United States, the military said Saturday.
The confirmation raised to 30 the number of coronavirus cases linked to U.S. Forces Korea, including six active-duty service members, but the command said all other patients have recovered.
Stars & Stripes
You can read more at the link.
I expect that these cluster infections are going to keep happening and tracing to limit the spread of the virus is going to be very important over the coming months:
South Korea on Wednesday reported a continued rise in new coronavirus cases linked to a logistics center in a city west of Seoul, putting health authorities on alert over further community spread.
As of 9 a.m., at least 36 virus cases had been traced to the logistics center in Bucheon, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
The first related case, confirmed last week, is believed to be linked to a cram school instructor in nearby Incheon, who contracted the virus after a visit to Seoul’s nightlife area of Itaewon.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It appears that the ROK Army Staff Sergeant largely blamed for the current cluster infection in Seoul may not have been the only one spreading the coronavirus in Itaewon:
Aggressive testing and contact tracing are back in full swing in South Korea, as new chains of coronavirus infections continue to pop up sequentially after an outbreak linked to nightclubs and bars in Itaewon, central Seoul.
Health authorities added four new clubs and bars — MADE, Pink Elephant, The Fountain and Pistil — to the list of locations where mass transmissions are believed to have occurred. That raises the number of establishments in Seoul’s popular nightlife spot under the scrutiny of quarantine officials to nine, with the previous five being King Club, Trunk Club, Club Queen, Soho and H.I.M. The mass transmissions are thought to have occurred April 24 through May 6.
The scaled-up investigation comes as authorities say the nightclub cluster probably has multiple epicenters. Cases have been detected with no apparent correlation to the cluster’s first identified patient or anyone in that chain of contacts.
Korea Herald
You can read more at the link, but I don’t see how bars and nightclubs are going to be able to reopen any time soon considering how wide this cluster infection has grown.
Like I said before when the Korea Times was insinuating that foreign English teachers were spreading COVID-19, that I was willing bet there was Korean teachers in these clubs as well. Sure enough there was and unlike the foreign teachers at least this educator was actually spreading the virus to his students:
Municipal authorities of Incheon, west of Seoul, said Wednesday they are planning to file a criminal complaint against a private academy instructor for lying about his occupation after his recent visit to a club in Seoul’s Itaewon district, which has resulted in a cluster of coronavirus infections involving himself and eight others, including his students.
The instructor, identified only as a 25-year-old man, tested positive for COVID-19 on Saturday after visiting King Club, one of Itaewon’s entertainment spots that are emerging as a hotbed of the coronavirus, on the night of May 2.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It was only a matter of time before the Korean media jumped on foreign English teachers for visiting Itaewon:
Concerns are growing at schools as nearly 90 foreign English teachers were found to have recently visited Itaewon in Seoul, a new COVID-19 hot spot connected to more than 90 confirmed coronavirus cases, education officials said Tuesday.
The South Jeolla Office of Education said 36 foreign teachers and 15 Korean teaching staff visited Itaewon and the Hongdae area sometime between April 24 and May 6. Among them two visited nightclubs. The office said 20 tested negative for the virus and 31 are currently undergoing testing.
Korea Times
According to the South Jeolla provincial government, five residents including one foreign teacher were confirmed to have visited Itaewon during the period when a 29-year-old Korean “superspreader” visited a number of nightclubs there from May 1 to May 2, but all tested negative.
The Gangwon Provincial Office of Education also said 55 foreign teachers and substitute teachers visited Itaewon from April 24 to May 6. They didn’t visit clubs or bars, just a number of restaurants and coffee shops.
You can read more at the link, but the Korea Times writes an article about how schools are supposedly concerned about foreign born English teachers even though none of them have tested positive yet for the virus.
Does anyone think there were no ethnic Korean teachers that visited Itaewon during this timeframe?
It seems like these Korean style bars have the potential to be the next cluster infection site:
Clubs in the district of Gangnam were also shut down following the administrative order.
“We held an emergency meeting after Seoul city made the announcement, closed doors and put up signs informing our customers,” a club in Gangnam said. “We are worried since we do not know how long we have to keep the doors closed.”
Bars labeled as general restaurants in Gangnam, however, were still crowded with customers, raising concerns over further coronavirus infections.
Young customers formed long lines to get seats at indoor “pochas” — Korean-style bars — near Gangnam Station. Tables were placed closely together in clusters and the restaurant was filled with customers.
“We were supposed to go to a club, but it was closed so we came to this place,” said a man, who was at a pocha in Gangnam with his friends. “I heard a few people were confirmed with the virus in Itaewon, but I’m not worried since it was not in Gangnam.”
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
The way I look at this, is that this could have just as easily happened in any nightclub in Seoul with how contagious this disease is:
The LGBTQ community in South Korea fears a rise in discrimination after a reported new spike in coronavirus cases was linked to a man who attended night clubs in Seoul’s gay district and later tested positive for the disease.
As of Saturday, May 9, South Korea confirmed 18 new coronavirus cases — the first time in five days that the number jumped above 10. Most of the cases originated in the popular Itaewon district in Seoul, where a 29-year-old man visited three nightclubs before testing positive for the virus.
The man tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, May 7, while an additional 14 people with who he had contact were also infected on Friday.
The 29-year-old could have also infected an estimated 2,000 people after he also walked around Seoul and other neighboring provinces, including Gyeonggi and Gangwon, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, according to Reuters.
Business Insider
You can read more at the link.
Any place with people packed into it is a risk to spread this virus, so the nightclubs and bars will likely be closed for a quite a while:
The Seoul city government on Saturday effectively suspended business at clubs and bars in the city after recent infections in the city’s popular multicultural neighborhood of Itaewon put health authorities on alert over a possibly bigger outbreak.
Under an administrative order that has gone into effect immediately, all clubs, bars, “room salons” and other nightlife establishments across the capital will be banned from hosting crowds of people, virtually suspending businesses at such venues.
“Such facilities have to suspend business immediately and will face strict punishment if they breach (the order),” Mayor Park Won-soon said in a press briefing, adding the order will remain in effect under further notice.
“Carelessness can lead to an explosion in infections — we clearly realized this through the group infections seen in the Itaewon club case,” Park said, urging businesses and the public to closely abide by quarantine measures.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
