Hwasun-gun Reports 8 New COVID-19 Cases

A scene of COVID-19 specimen collection conducted at the Dogok-myeon screening clinic last August. Photo by Hwasun-gun.

[Hwasun=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Ji-woon] Amid a nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases following the Chuseok holiday, 8 COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in Hwasun County.

According to Hwasun County on the 3rd, one student at a high school located in Hwasun County was confirmed positive on the afternoon of the 1st, and during a full investigation of the school, 8 additional students tested positive.

All 9 confirmed cases on that day were students from the same class; 7 of them live in the dormitory, while the remaining 2 commute to and from school daily.

After the first confirmed case (Gwangju No. 5026) was identified, the county conducted an emergency full-scale test on contacts to block the infection route and prevent further spread.

As a result of the full tests conducted on 569 students and staff at the school, 293 residents of local nursing facilities attended by close contacts, and 5 cohabiting family members, 8 students were additionally confirmed positive. They were classified as Jeonnam Nos. 3127 to 3134.

Three students received inconclusive results and will be retested. The rest tested negative.

Hwasun County is conducting an in-depth epidemiological investigation by securing CCTV footage and has notified identified close contacts to self-quarantine.

The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education, Hwasun County Office of Education, and Hwasun County Public Health Center held an emergency meeting with related agencies to discuss additional testing, the scope of self-quarantine, blocking infection routes, and measures to prevent further spread.

Gu Chung-gon, the mayor of Hwasun County, said, “As COVID-19 prolongs and vaccination rates increase, awareness of COVID-19 infection has significantly declined. We ask residents to refrain from traveling to other regions and meeting others, strictly follow quarantine rules such as banning gatherings of more than four people, and wearing masks.”

Mayor Gu added, “The fastest way to overcome the peak of the pandemic is to increase vaccination rates to suppress the spread of infection. Therefore, residents who have not yet participated in vaccination are strongly urged to get vaccinated.”

Hwasun=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Ji-woon rosaria0704@asiae.co.kr

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