Seoul Itaewon Club Infection, Spread Through Karaoke? "There Is a Connection"

Seoul City: "Confirmed Cases from Itaewon Clubs and Hongdae Pubs Used the Same Karaoke Room"
Possible Virus Transmission Through Karaoke Ventilation System

On the afternoon of the 12th, Saemaeul Leaders Association volunteers from Itaewon 1-dong are disinfecting the streets in the club district around Usadan-ro, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Han Seung-gon, Intern Reporter Lim Joo-hyung] It has been revealed that the cluster infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) originating from Itaewon clubs in Seoul spread through karaoke rooms.

On the 15th, Na Baek-ju, Director of the Seoul Metropolitan Government's Citizen Health Bureau, stated at the regular COVID-19 briefing held at Seoul City Hall, "We have identified that the five confirmed cases from a pub in Hongdae are linked to confirmed cases who visited Itaewon clubs."

He continued, "Patient No. 10827 nationwide (Gwanak 45), who was confirmed positive on the 8th after visiting an Itaewon club, used a karaoke room located in Gwanak District. The first symptomatic patient among the confirmed cases from the Hongdae pub also used the same karaoke room at the same time on the same day."

Previously, five people who were confirmed positive after visiting two pubs near Hongdae in Mapo-gu, Seoul, were found through epidemiological investigation to have no history of visiting Itaewon clubs or overseas travel. Accordingly, health authorities considered these five as separate cases from the Itaewon club cluster and traced their infection routes.

However, it was found that the first symptomatic patient among the five, Patient No. 31 from Gangseo District, Seoul, used the same karaoke room as Patient No. 45 from Gwanak District with a three-minute interval.

Therefore, health authorities classified Patient No. 31 from Gangseo as a secondary infection case originating from Itaewon, and the four others who visited the Hongdae pub with this patient on the 7th?Patient No. 14 from Seo District, Incheon; Patient No. 54 from Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province; Patient No. 42 from Goyang City; and Patient No. 17 from Gimpo City?as tertiary infection cases.

Meanwhile, the tertiary infections related to the Itaewon club that appeared in Dobong District, Seoul, are also presumed to have spread through karaoke rooms.

At the karaoke room in question, Patient No. 10 from Dobong, who was confirmed positive after close contact with Patient No. 46 from Gwanak District, a confirmed case who visited an Itaewon club, had visited. Subsequently, two more visitors to this karaoke room (Patients No. 12 and 13 from Dobong) tested positive.

At the 'Gawang Coin Karaoke Practice Room' in Dobong District where the infections occurred, the confirmed patients did not use the same rooms. However, the ventilation system shared by the karaoke rooms is suspected to be the virus transmission route.

Director Na explained, "In the case of the karaoke room in Dobong District, although the confirmed patients used different rooms, the rooms share the same ventilation system for air circulation."

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