"Voluntary Testing Requested for Over 10,000 Users Connected to Base Stations Near Itaewon Clubs (Comprehensive)"

Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon Urges "Do Not Worry About Personal Safety, Get Tested Promptly"
Number of Tests Doubled After Anonymous Testing Implemented... Personal Information Used Only for Quarantine Purposes

On the 10th, when Seoul City issued a 'gathering ban order' for all entertainment facilities in Seoul following the Itaewon club COVID-19 cluster infection incident, a gathering ban notice was posted at the Itaewon club in Seoul, which was reported to have been visited by confirmed cases. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] The Seoul Metropolitan Government is tightening its full-scale investigation of those involved by securing the list of citizens who were near the Itaewon clubs in Yongsan-gu during the suspected period of COVID-19 transmission and urging them to undergo testing.

On the 12th, Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon stated in a briefing, "We have secured the complete list of 10,905 people who connected to telecom base stations near the Itaewon clubs between April 24 and May 6, and sent text messages requesting them to get tested for COVID-19."

It was deemed essential to conduct rapid mass testing as the number of confirmed cases related to the Itaewon clubs exceeded 100 within a week of the first confirmed case, indicating the spread of infection among an unspecified large group.

Mayor Park pointed out, "The problem is that secondary infections are spreading to family members and coworkers of confirmed cases who visited the clubs," adding, "Although tertiary infections have not yet been confirmed, over 36% of infections are asymptomatic, and the transmission speed is very fast, which is a cause for concern."

He continued, "Since the fight against infectious diseases is a race against time, those who were near the Itaewon clubs during the specified period should not worry about their personal safety and are urged to promptly undergo voluntary specimen testing," and added, "We will send another text message to those connected to the base stations this afternoon."

Simultaneously, Seoul secured the list of 494 people who used cards at the Itaewon clubs from credit card companies and instructed them to get tested and self-quarantine.

Regarding the Itaewon club cluster infection, 7,272 people, including visitors and contacts, have been tested in Seoul so far. In particular, after starting anonymous testing where only phone numbers are verified upon request, the number of tests increased nearly twofold from about 3,500 on the 10th to 6,544 on the 11th.

Accordingly, the city plans to identify additional testing demand, install more screening clinics such as walk-through centers, and deploy medical personnel to ensure smooth testing.

Mayor Park also warned against criticism or hateful expressions toward confirmed cases and false information such as claims of "personal disadvantages" being suffered.

He emphasized, "Although concerns such as personal information leakage have arisen due to the Itaewon club cluster infection incident, Seoul is taking measures to ensure this information is used solely for quarantine purposes," and added, "We will cooperate with the 25 autonomous districts to manage and ensure that only information necessary for actual quarantine is disclosed regarding confirmed patients' movement paths."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, since Seoul issued a gathering ban order on all entertainment facilities on the 9th, about 2,100 clubs, emotional pubs, room salons, and colatecs have suspended operations.

Additionally, regarding the administrative order to comply with quarantine rules issued on the 11th for similar entertainment establishments such as so-called 'hunting pochas,' joint crackdowns by each autonomous district and the police have begun. Unannounced inspections are also being conducted to check compliance with quarantine rules at PC rooms, karaoke rooms, call centers, and other places where cluster infections occurred.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.