"Vaccinated but still..." 58 Teens Enjoying Drinking and Singing at Pocha All Infected

74 Confirmed Cases, 73 Fully Vaccinated

Drinking party. Not related to the article.
Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Ye-eun] A mass infection among teenagers occurred at a pub in Ok-dong, Andong-si, Gyeongbuk, raising alarms for quarantine measures.

According to Andong City on the 27th, a total of 74 COVID-19 cases were confirmed at a pub in Ok-dong, Andong-si. Among them, 4 cases were reported on the 23rd, 19 on the 24th, and 35 on the 25th, including 58 teenage students and 16 staff and general visitors.

Most of them were fully vaccinated, confirming these as breakthrough infection cases. All individuals verified their vaccine passes upon entering the pub. In particular, the teenage confirmed cases had completed vaccination last year to prepare for university entrance exams.

Of the 74 confirmed cases, 48 had received two doses, and 25 had completed three doses, totaling 73 people. The remaining unvaccinated individual was a secondary infection case who contracted the virus through contact with a family member who visited the pub.

Meanwhile, a video capturing the situation showed a pub so crowded that there were no empty seats, with people mingling and drinking, and some women dancing on tables. Most of the dozens of guests were not wearing masks, and they sat close together without observing social distancing.

A student who was at the pub said, "All the high school seniors entered with vaccine passes," and added, "We never thought that all the students who had vaccine passes would get infected."

The quarantine authorities urged, "Along with preparing measures to prevent the spread of Omicron, please refrain from traveling during the five-day Lunar New Year holiday and strictly follow quarantine rules."

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