Busan Haeundae Oncheon Center Conducts COVID-19 Tests on 1,394 People... No Additional Confirmed Cases

On the 28th, citizens are lining up outdoors at the screening clinic set up at Haeundae-gu Public Health Center in Busan to receive COVID-19 diagnostic tests. An employee of a large public bathhouse in Haeundae tested positive, causing health authorities and bathhouse users to be on alert.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] Two employees of the Busan Haeundae Oncheon Center tested positive for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), raising concerns about a cluster infection, but no additional confirmed cases have been reported so far.

According to Busan city health authorities on the 29th, COVID-19 diagnostic tests were conducted on 1,394 people, including 42 employees of the Haeundae Oncheon Center and bathhouse users. Except for the two previously confirmed cases, 1,392 tested negative. The quarantine authorities are currently conducting tests on about 100 remaining contacts.

At this location, one employee (Busan case number 277) was confirmed positive on the 27th, followed by an additional colleague testing positive the next day. In particular, the 277th confirmed case had contact with about 1,500 people, raising concerns about a cluster infection. It is presumed that this confirmed case was infected after attending a family gathering on the 15th of this month and coming into contact with a confirmed case from Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, who was present at the gathering.

However, the quarantine authorities remain vigilant. The Haeundae Oncheon Center has been keeping a list of users since the 21st of this month, making it difficult to accurately identify users who visited the bathhouse between the 16th and 20th, when the 277th confirmed case was infectious and present. The nature of the bathhouse facility, where wearing masks is difficult, also increases the possibility of infection.

As of midnight on the 29th, Busan city has issued an administrative order banning gatherings at 819 bathhouses within the jurisdiction.

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