A Woman in Her 50s Who Used the Same Restaurant as an Omicron-Infected Person Tests Positive for COVID-19

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Hyowon] A woman in her 50s who used the same restaurant as a confirmed case of the COVID-19 Omicron variant has tested positive and was classified as a suspected Omicron infection case.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) on the 3rd, a woman in her 50s living in Incheon who tested positive for COVID-19 on the 1st was classified as an Omicron-related case despite having no personal relationship with the confirmed domestic Omicron variant case.

Park Youngjun, head of the epidemiological investigation team at the CDCH, said in a briefing, "This woman is not an acquaintance of the confirmed domestic Omicron case, a man in his 30s of Uzbek nationality, but they dined in the same space."

He explained, "The restaurant is mainly used by foreigners and is not spacious. Because they ate in the same space, she was classified as a close contact in the initial epidemiological investigation and was being managed accordingly."

As of midnight on the day, the CDCH officially classified a total of 13 people as Omicron-related cases, an increase of 4 from the previous day.

Among them, six people have been confirmed infected with Omicron through whole genome sequencing analysis by the previous day: a couple in their 40s living in Incheon who returned from Nigeria on the 24th of last month, their teenage child, a 30-year-old man of Uzbek nationality who is an acquaintance, and two women in their 50s living in Gyeonggi Province who visited Nigeria and entered the country on the 23rd of last month.

The remaining seven are undergoing tests to determine which variant of the virus they are infected with while confirmed positive for COVID-19, and are awaiting results.

Among these seven, three are the wife, mother-in-law, and acquaintance of the 30-year-old male confirmed case. The other four were newly classified as suspected Omicron-related cases the previous day; among them, three are related to the 30-year-old man's acquaintances. Of these three, one is unvaccinated, and two have received only the first dose of the vaccine. The remaining one is a woman who used the same restaurant as the 30-year-old man and tested positive for COVID-19, and she is unvaccinated.

Separately, a cluster infection was confirmed at a church in Michuhol-gu, Incheon, attended by the family members of the Uzbek male confirmed case, suggesting that domestic Omicron-related cases are expected to continue increasing. Authorities stated that the six confirmed Omicron variant cases are receiving treatment while asymptomatic or with mild symptoms.

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