Over 650 Contacts in Gwangju and Jeonnam Linked to Seoul Songpa Case No. 60

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Approximately 650 local contacts have been identified in the Gwangju and Jeonnam regions linked to the Seoul Songpa 60th confirmed COVID-19 case. Twelve relatives and acquaintances have also tested positive.

According to Gwangju City and Jeonnam Province on the 19th, from the day before the Songpa 60th contact (Gwangju 177th) was confirmed positive until 2 p.m. on the same day, 596 contacts were confirmed in Gwangju and 51 in Jeonnam. Among them, 9 out of 17 relatives who had contact during Songpa 60th's visit to Gwangju from the 10th to the 12th tested positive, while 8 tested negative.

Two coworkers of these relatives and one academy student became additional confirmed cases related to this cluster. At Hope Vocational School, attended by case 183, 52 students and others were tested, resulting in 2 positives (cases 183 and 186) and the rest negative.

At W Asset, where case 177 worked in telephone insurance planning, 8 employees and 13 people in the same building were tested, with 2 positives (Gwangju cases 187 and Jeonnam case 35) and the rest negative. At Gyesu Elementary School in Gwangju, attended by siblings cases 178 and 179, all 325 students and 44 staff members tested negative.

Currently, 128 Gwangju residents classified as contacts related to Songpa 60th are under self-quarantine.

Gyesu Elementary School has switched to remote classes until the 24th. As of 2 p.m. on the same day, among Jeonnam contacts, 1 tested positive and 41 tested negative.

Health authorities are making every effort to identify additional movements and contacts beyond the three meals with relatives in Gwangju through epidemiological investigation of Songpa 60th. However, since Songpa 60th concealed the visit to Gwangju, precious 'golden time' for quarantine was lost, raising concerns about further local infections.

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