22% of August Seoul COVID-19 Cases Have Unknown Transmission Routes... Increasing 'Invisible' Spread Undermining Quarantine Measures (Update)

Screening Clinic. Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Intern Reporter Kim Seul-gi] In Seoul, the number of so-called 'unknown source' COVID-19 cases, where the infection route cannot be identified, continues to rise, and in August, more than one in five patients were classified as 'infection route under investigation.'

According to the Seoul Metropolitan Government's confirmed cases tally on the 28th, among the 1,783 confirmed cases in Seoul from the 1st to the 26th of this month, 392 cases, or 22.0%, had unidentified infection routes.

In the tally, the proportion of 'under investigation' patients, referring to those with unknown infection routes, remained generally below 10% until May but began to increase from June.

Their proportions were 0% in January, 13.8% in February, 7.2% in March, 5.7% in April, and 5.3% in May.

In June, the rate rose nearly threefold compared to the previous month to 16.3%, and in July, it remained at a similar level of 16.0%.

Looking at the total from January to August, out of 3,386 cumulative patients, 572 had unidentified infection routes, accounting for 16.9%.

With the rapid increase of 'unknown source' patients, the effectiveness of the quarantine authorities' policy of 'detecting high-risk groups and confirming cases through intensive testing followed by prompt isolation' is diminishing.

The Seoul quarantine authorities attribute the recent surge in confirmed cases to the Sarang Jeil Church and the Gwanghwamun rallies.

At a briefing on the 27th, Park Yu-mi, the quarantine control officer, was asked why confirmed cases are increasing despite strong social distancing guidelines. She responded, "Many confirmed cases are related to Sarang Jeil Church and the Gwanghwamun rallies, and as a result, small-scale cluster infections have increased significantly."

She added, "It is important to quickly conduct movement path investigations and epidemiological surveys for confirmed cases whose infection routes are under investigation," and said, "We will expand the epidemiological investigation team to promptly identify the sources of infection."

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