4 More Cases of UK Variant Virus Confirmed...First Case of South Africa Variant Also Detected

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo Yujin] Four additional confirmed cases of the new coronavirus variant originating from the United Kingdom have been reported. Among the arrivals from the Republic of South Africa (Namagong), one new case of variant virus infection was also confirmed.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 2nd, five more cases of variant virus infections from the UK and Namagong were confirmed. Among the four newly identified UK variant virus infection cases, three are family members of an elderly man in his 80s who was diagnosed as 'post-confirmed' on the 26th of last month.

After confirming the variant virus infection in the man in his 80s, the health authorities conducted whole genome sequencing analysis on the specimens of three family members of the confirmed patient and identified additional infections.

Among them, two were confirmed positive during self-quarantine after entering the country on the 13th of last month, but the other one had already entered the country in November last year and was confirmed to have visited multi-use facilities such as a hair salon and a mart near their residence in Goyang-si, Gyeonggi Province, raising concerns that the variant virus may have already spread within the local community.

Another individual, who also arrived from the UK, was confirmed positive during self-quarantine. This brings the total number of UK variant virus infections confirmed domestically to nine.

Separately, a case of infection with the variant virus currently spreading in Namagong was reported for the first time on this day. This person entered the country from Namagong on the 26th of last month and was confirmed positive during the entry quarantine process.

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