Seoul COVID-19 Cases Increase by 17 in 8 Hours... 9 Related to 'Richway'

On the 8th, in front of the screening clinic at Seoul Medical Center in Jungnang-gu, Seoul, citizens are waiting to get tested as Seoul City began free proactive COVID-19 testing for the general public to prevent community cluster infections caused by asymptomatic COVID-19 carriers. This measure by Seoul City aims to identify 'silent spreaders' through active proactive testing amid increasing sporadic infections with unclear transmission routes, including asymptomatic cases. Citizens can apply through the Seoul City website and visit designated municipal hospitals to receive free testing. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-joo] As of 6 p.m. on the 8th, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced that the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) in Seoul reached 1,016, an increase of 17 cases in 8 hours.

By infection route, there were 9 cases related to Richway (cumulative 39), 2 cases related to Yangcheon-gu sports facilities (cumulative 29), 1 case related to the metropolitan area Pioneer Church (cumulative 27), 1 case related to KB Life Insurance (cumulative 12), 1 overseas contact case (cumulative 284), and 3 other cases (cumulative 296).

Among the 9 new cases classified as related to Richway, 8 cases (Guro 57-64) are residents of a shelter for ethnic Korean-Chinese at a church in Guro-gu. One resident of this shelter was confirmed positive the previous day (Guro 54), and it was confirmed that this confirmed patient had visited Richway.

In Seoul, the number of confirmed cases surpassed 1,000 on this day since the first confirmed case on January 24. At least 152 confirmed cases have occurred so far this month, of which 147 are cases of community transmission.

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