Jeju Reports Record High of 34 New COVID-19 Cases in One Day... 17 Students Involved in Cluster Infection

Published 21 Jul.2021 14:00(KST)

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Chang-won] A record high of 34 COVID-19 cases occurred in the Jeju area within a single day, raising alarms. It was also confirmed that 17 high school students violated quarantine rules by staying at a pension, leading to a cluster infection, prompting health authorities to launch an investigation.

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province announced that on the 20th, COVID-19 diagnostic tests were conducted on a total of 2,648 people, with 34 testing positive (Jeju numbers 1497~1530). According to Jeju Province, among the new confirmed cases, 28 were contacts of confirmed cases in Jeju, 3 were contacts of confirmed cases from other regions, and the infection routes of the remaining 3 are currently being investigated.

Among the 28 contacts of confirmed cases in the province, 14 were identified as cluster infection cases. The cluster infection confirmed cases include ▲Jeju City entertainment bar 2 (Waterpark·Guam entertainment bar) 2 people (1499, 1510) ▲Jeju City entertainment bar 3 (Party24) 1 person (1505) ▲Jeju City high school 3 people (1511, 1517, 1519) ▲8 people related to contact with case 1497 (new cluster name not yet determined) (1513, 1514, 1520~1523, 1528, 1529).

With 3 additional confirmed cases from the Jeju City high school cluster on this day, as of the morning of the 21st, the total number of confirmed cases related to this cluster has increased to 9 (6 from Hallim Technical High School, 3 from Daejeong High School). These high school cases were classified as contacts of the initial confirmed case 1477 and tested positive again after symptoms appeared during quarantine.

In particular, health authorities are investigating violations of quarantine rules discovered during the epidemiological investigation of the high school cluster infection.

Kim Mi-ya, an epidemiologist from Jeju Province, warned at a briefing on the 21st, “It was confirmed that 17 high school students gathered at a pension operating in the province,” adding, “We plan to take a strong stance against the pension operator and the students who gathered.”

Concerns are growing that the 34 confirmed cases stemming from the pension-related high school cluster infection could ignite another cluster infection through schools. Health authorities expect the impact to last from as short as 2-3 days to as long as 4-5 days.

An Seong-bae, an epidemiologist from Jeju Province, explained, “Schools have the characteristic of many people spending long periods together in the same space compared to other groups,” and added, “Especially since students may meet outside of school or use multi-use facilities, stricter standards are being established for quarantine and epidemiological investigations than for other groups, and quarantine measures are being implemented accordingly.”