One More Employee Confirmed Positive Following Haeundae Oncheon Center Masseuse Case

Seoul Seongbuk-gu ⇒ Jeonnam Suncheon Family Gathering ⇒ Haeundae Oncheon Center ⇒ ?

On the 28th, citizens are lining up in a long queue to receive COVID-19 diagnostic tests at a screening clinic set up outdoors at Haeundae-gu Public Health Center in Busan. [Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] After a female massage therapist working at a large hot spring bathhouse in Haeundae, Busan tested positive for COVID-19, an additional staff member also tested positive, raising alarms for quarantine measures.

This facility is a popular public bathhouse with about 600 daily visitors, raising concerns that it could become a new hotspot for COVID-19 transmission.

According to Busan city health authorities on the 28th, a colleague (case number 284) of the massage therapist (case number 227) at the Haeundae Oncheon Center also tested positive on the same day. Two confirmed cases have emerged from this bathhouse.

Earlier, case number 277 is presumed to have been infected after contact with a confirmed case from Seongbuk-gu, Seoul during a family gathering in Suncheon, Jeollanam-do on the 15th.

After disclosing the movements of case number 277, Busan city has advised those who visited the women's bath on the 4th floor of the Haeundae Oncheon Center between the 16th and 24th of this month to get tested.

The Haeundae Oncheon Center, where two employees tested positive, has about 1,500 members and serves around 600 visitors daily as a public bathhouse.

According to Busan city health authorities, case number 277 worked in the sauna for about 8 to 9 hours daily from the 16th to the 24th, except for the 18th and 22nd. On the 25th, they stayed from 7 a.m. until midnight.

Health authorities estimate that the number of people who came into contact with these confirmed cases could be between 800 and 1,000.

A Busan city official expressed concern, stating, “If there was close proximity during the massage process where heavy breathing and droplet spread occurred, the possibility of transmission is high.”

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