Andong City Issues 'Stay-at-Home Order'... 25% (49 People) of Total Confirmed Cases Linked to Taekwondo Dojang

Operation of Special Quarantine Measures Period Until February 7... Senior Centers and Daycare Centers 'Suspended'

President Moon Jae-in visited the SK Bioscience factory in Andong, Gyeongbuk, on the morning of January 20th to inspect the COVID-19 vaccine production site.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] As confirmed COVID-19 cases related to a Taekwondo academy surge in Andong-si, Gyeongbuk, a home evacuation order has been issued, creating a tense atmosphere in the area.

The number of confirmed cases at Songhyeon-dong Mirae Taekwondo Academy, which started with 2 cases on the 26th, increased to 31 on the 27th, 12 on the 28th, and 4 on the 29th, totaling 49 cases in just four days.

This accounts for 25% of the total confirmed cases in Andong (200 cases as of midnight on the 30th). Among the confirmed cases related to this Taekwondo academy are 28 students, 18 family members, 1 instructor, and 2 acquaintances.

The Andong City quarantine authorities have begun comprehensive testing of 575 close contacts of the 49 confirmed cases and on the 29th issued a home evacuation order requesting residents to stay at home for ten days until February 7th.

Additionally, to minimize face-to-face contact, 580 senior centers in the city have been closed, and 94 daycare centers have been ordered to suspend operations.

Along with this, the city has designated the upcoming week as a special quarantine period and is conducting intensive inspections targeting multi-use facilities such as restaurants, coffee shops, PC rooms, academies, and large marts to check for violations of quarantine rules.

Park Seong-su, Deputy Mayor of Andong City, appealed, "In cases like this Taekwondo academy chain infection incident, even mild fever symptoms that might normally be overlooked with cold medicine can later be confirmed as COVID-19 infection, making it impossible to avoid chain infections." He urged everyone to participate in the 'One Household, One Person Testing Campaign' even if they have no symptoms.

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