Mokpo City Reports 17 COVID-19 Infections on the 5th... Including Omicron Confirmed Cases

Complete Survey of 250 Students Including Those from Mokpo A Elementary School

Mokpo Mayor Kim Jong-sik appeals to local residents to comply with social distancing amid the spread of COVID-19 in Mokpo. Photo by Mokpo City

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Seunghyun Jeong] On the 5th, 17 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Mokpo, Jeonnam.

The day before, the city recorded a historic high of 33 confirmed cases, making the spread of COVID-19 inevitable. Many of those infected had already received the third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, increasing citizens' anxiety.

In particular, among the infected on the 5th was a 9-year-old elementary school student, leading to mass testing of about 250 students at A School, where the student is enrolled.

Additionally, two more confirmed cases were reported today at a hospital in Mokpo where a large number of cases had occurred the previous day, raising concerns about the spread among hospitalized patients.

Accordingly, the city conducted mass testing of 1,500 patients and medical staff at the hospital and implemented cohort isolation for 84 people in certain wards.

Currently, Mokpo reported 659 confirmed cases on the 5th. The main locations of infection were identified as hospitals, schools, colateks, bathhouses, and karaoke bars.

On the same day, the city issued an appeal urging compliance with quarantine rules and social distancing to prevent the increase in COVID-19 cases.

Furthermore, some of the recent confirmed cases in Mokpo were found to be infected with the Omicron variant. The first detection in Mokpo was on December 23 of last year, and so far, five people have been infected with Omicron. Breakthrough infections account for a significant portion; among the 33 cases confirmed on the 4th, 31 were identified as breakthrough infections.

The city plans to operate a special quarantine reinforcement period from the 6th to the 16th and will make every effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

According to government guidelines on social distancing, the recommended limit on the number of participants in various gatherings, events, and assemblies is reduced from 49 to 20. Proactive testing at workplaces employing foreigners will be strengthened from once every two weeks to once a week. The scope of epidemiological investigations will be expanded, and the passive monitoring isolation period will be extended from 3 days to 5 days.

Regarding school quarantine, in consultation with educational authorities, if additional confirmed cases occur before the winter vacation, classes will promptly switch to remote learning, and vaccination will be encouraged. Joint special quarantine inspections will be conducted with related agencies such as the police to check the implementation of periodic proactive testing, compliance with business hour restrictions, application of visitor registration, and focused inspection of risk factors. The city will apply a zero-tolerance policy to facilities violating quarantine rules.

The city urged citizens to ▲ refrain from unnecessary outings, travel, events, and gatherings ▲ always perform Safe Call or QR code check-in when entering multi-use facilities such as stores ▲ wear masks covering the mouth and nose at all times ▲ promptly undergo diagnostic testing if symptoms appear ▲ receive additional COVID-19 vaccine doses and encourage unvaccinated citizens to get vaccinated.

A city official said, “After nearly two years of the COVID-19 situation, this is the most critical phase. I am confident that if citizens and the city actively cooperate, we can overcome this crisis. I earnestly appeal to all citizens to participate in a brief pause.”

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