Itaewon Club-Originated 3rd Wave Infection... Education Authorities on Alert Again

Incheon Academy Instructor → Student → Parent Confirmed Positive

Confirmed COVID-19 cases related to Itaewon clubs worked at a private academy located in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, where the building entrance is shown. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Kim Heung-soon and Lee Hyun-joo] A third-generation infection case related to a confirmed COVID-19 patient linked to Itaewon clubs in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, has emerged in Incheon.

Namdong-gu, Incheon, announced on the 14th that an 18-year-old male resident of Nonhyeon-dong and his mother (42) tested positive for COVID-19. The 18-year-old male, a high school senior, was confirmed to have attended classes at a private academy in Michuhol-gu where patient number 102 of Incheon (25 years old) works.

Patient number 102 visited Itaewon clubs and pojangmacha (outdoor drinking establishments) on the 2nd and 3rd, and was confirmed positive on the 9th. It is presumed that the 18-year-old male was infected by this patient and subsequently transmitted the virus to his mother. Health authorities and local governments are conducting epidemiological investigations into the infection routes and movement paths of additional confirmed cases.

Before being confirmed positive, patient number 102 attended academy lectures and private tutoring sessions on the 6th and 7th. As of 9 a.m. on that day, the number of confirmed cases who had contact with him increased to 13. Among them, eight middle and high school students were included, raising alarms within the education authorities.

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Yoo Eun-hye held an emergency meeting with Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon and Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon, requesting cooperation to ensure that COVID-19 testing for academy instructors or staff identified as subjects for testing is conducted as quickly as possible.

They also discussed strengthening quarantine measures such as issuing administrative orders to prohibit gatherings at facilities frequently used by students, including karaoke rooms and PC rooms, as well as joint inspections of language academies for young children and SAT academies.

The Ministry of Education is also conducting a status survey targeting nationwide teachers, native-speaking instructors, and high school seniors who visited Itaewon from the 24th of last month to the 6th of this month. Academy instructors, directors, and staff are also included in the survey. It is known that dozens of teachers nationwide visited Itaewon during this period.

Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters’ quarantine team, said at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters briefing that "Regarding the Itaewon cluster infection, second and third-generation infections suspected mainly in Incheon have occurred, so it is necessary to closely monitor these situations for a few more days," adding, "Based on these circumstances, the Ministry of Education may decide on matters related to school reopening."

Meanwhile, as of midnight on the same day, 29 new domestic COVID-19 cases were confirmed, with 26 of them occurring in the local community excluding imported cases. Most of these patients are related to entertainment facilities such as Itaewon clubs and pubs near Hongik University. The cumulative number of confirmed cases linked to Itaewon clubs increased to 131 as of 10 a.m.

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