Authorities: "Karaoke Infection, Low Possibility of Transmission Through Air Conditioning System" (Update)

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Regarding the multiple patients who contracted the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) after visiting the same karaoke room, health authorities have judged that the possibility of transmission through the ventilation system for internal air circulation is currently low. They believe it is more likely that infection occurred through direct transmission of virus-containing droplets.

Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19, said at a briefing on the 15th, "It is currently difficult to conclude that cases infected through karaoke rooms were necessarily transmitted via the ventilation system."

According to epidemiological investigations recently conducted by the Countermeasure Headquarters and the Seoul Metropolitan Government, the cluster infections related to the Itaewon clubs and Hongdae pubs are presumed to be linked through the shared space of karaoke rooms. Patients confirmed positive after visiting Itaewon clubs had also visited a karaoke room in Gwanak-gu, and among the confirmed cases related to the Hongdae pubs, the earliest symptomatic individual was found to have used the same karaoke room at a similar time.

Jung Eun-kyung, Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for COVID-19 <이미지: Yonhap News>

However, in the case of karaoke infections confirmed in Dobong-gu, although it was the same karaoke establishment, the rooms were different. Here, a patient who was confirmed positive after contact with an Itaewon club visitor had visited the karaoke, and subsequently, two others who visited the karaoke were infected. According to the city, different rooms are connected through the ventilation system, raising the possibility of transmission through it.

Head Jung said, "Karaoke rooms are difficult to ventilate, and the rooms are close together," adding, "The act of singing itself generates droplets, so if there was a confirmed patient, many droplets would have been produced, and those droplets could have spread through hallways or common areas." Health authorities believe that the possibility of transmission through contact in spaces where unspecified many users pass together, such as restrooms or lounges inside karaoke rooms, is higher.

Head Jung explained, "In the case of the Guro Call Center, patients appeared on multiple floors, raising suspicion of transmission through the ventilation system, but it is rather considered to be infection through contact," adding, "The incidence was higher on specific floors, and transmission is judged to have occurred through personal contact among employees on different floors." She concluded, "So far, there have been no cases confirmed to have been transmitted through the ventilation system."

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