Seoul City Discovers 147 'Hidden Infections' in Proactive Testing of High-Risk Groups

382,000 People Including Public Transportation, Call Center, and Emergency Care Workers Tested
Testing Recommended for Public Service Workers Such as Water Supply, Gas Meter Readers, and Delivery Agents

On the 24th of last month, employees of related companies are undergoing diagnostic tests at a temporary screening clinic for logistics center workers set up in front of the Seoul Complex Logistics Center in Jangji-dong, Songpa-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Seoul City announced on the 14th that it has identified 147 hidden COVID-19 infections through proactive testing targeting high-risk groups such as delivery workers, call center employees, workers at nursing facilities, and public transportation drivers.

Earlier, as a measure to curb the surge in COVID-19 cases, since December 16 last year, the city has been conducting proactive testing targeting groups with high infection spread potential and fatality risk if even one person is infected, including logistics workers, call centers, nursing facilities and hospitals, religious facilities, as well as essential workers such as public transportation and emergency childcare for infants and young children.

Up to the 13th of this month, proactive testing was conducted on a total of 382,802 workers in high-risk groups. As a result, hidden infections were detected early among 37 public transportation workers (17 bus drivers and 20 subway drivers), 26 individual and corporate taxi drivers, 16 call center employees, and 32 workers at nursing facilities and hospitals, enabling preemptive blocking of cluster infections caused by asymptomatic carriers.

The city explained that in workplaces where confirmed cases have occurred, measures to prevent further spread are being implemented according to quarantine guidelines, including ▲temporary closure of the workplace followed by disinfection, and ▲conducting in-depth epidemiological investigations of confirmed cases to classify contacts, order testing, and notify self-quarantine.

When a public transportation driver, such as a bus driver who interacts with citizens, tests positive, environmental samples are taken from the driver’s vehicle, confirming that no residual virus is detected, thereby ensuring safety within public transportation. When a logistics facility worker tests positive, all items contacted by the confirmed case are discarded to prevent secondary infections. In cases where confirmed cases occur in group facilities such as nursing hospitals and postpartum care centers, confirmed and non-confirmed individuals are separated, and non-confirmed individuals are relocated.

Based on the results of proactive testing of these high-risk groups, the city plans to focus on minimizing infection transmission by conducting periodic sampling retests by group. In particular, groups with frequent citizen contact, such as taxi and subway workers among the high-risk groups, will be managed intensively.

Additionally, to eliminate blind spots in cluster infection prevention, the city is requesting cooperation for proactive testing participation through related associations and organizations targeting water and gas meter readers, delivery service workers, large supermarket employees, and traditional market workers who have frequent contact with citizens.

To promote proactive testing of high-risk groups without blind spots, the city has been operating a 'mobile screening clinic' since December 23 last year for citizens who have difficulty undergoing testing due to mobility restrictions or shift work. A total of 7,749 tests have been supported for workers and users of homeless and disability facilities, logistics workers, and others, among which 4 confirmed cases were detected early in logistics, public transportation, and homeless facilities.

Seo Jeong-hyeop, Acting Mayor of Seoul, said, "Through proactive testing of high-risk groups, we have identified confirmed cases in public transportation and call centers, once again confirming that asymptomatic infections have already spread throughout our society." He added, "Since anyone can get a free COVID-19 test at temporary screening clinics set up in Seoul, we ask general citizens who are not part of high-risk groups to actively cooperate by visiting nearby temporary screening clinics for testing."

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