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Doors to an Incheon church where spread of the Omicron variant has been concentrated can be seen here with a sign on its doors reading “All church facilities are closed in their entirety in relation to a confirmed case of COVID-19” on Sunday. (Yonhap News)

South Korea’s southeast region of Yeongnam, where COVID-19 cases had been rising more slowly than in the greater Seoul area, is now seeing a steep climb in new infections.

According to figures released by disease control authorities and various city officials on Monday, Busan’s daily COVID-19 caseload reached 201 on Friday and rose to 207 on Saturday. This is the first time the port city has reported more than 200 cases since its first case on Feb. 21, 2020.

Cases on Sunday dipped to 193 because of less testing over the weekend, but that was still the most cases the city has seen on a Sunday. The cases have been driven by a series of infections at elementary and middle schools, which have fully resumed in-person classes.

Among the 193 new cases reported on Sunday, 31 were elementary school students and 10 were middle school students. So far, cases of COVID-19 have been reported at 16 schools.

In North Gyeongsang Province, the caseload on Sunday outstripped the previous record of 115 (on Nov. 25), to reach 181. South Gyeongsang Province also had 121 cases on Sunday, setting a record for Sunday cases.

As COVID-19 infections continue to spread around the country, the Korean government assessed the COVID-19 risk factor last week (Nov. 28-Dec. 4) as being “very high” around the country. That was the second week in a row the government offered that risk assessment, following the last week of November.

By region, the risk level in the greater Seoul area has been “very high” for three weeks now. The government is expected to announce more measures to secure hospital beds and stabilize home care.

The Omicron variant is spreading in the community through infection clusters such as one at a church in Incheon. Korea’s Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced that Omicron had been detected in 12 more COVID-19 patients in the country as of the end of the day Sunday, bringing the total to 24. There were also ten suspected cases of Omicron, which was six more than the previous day.

Ten of the new Omicron cases reported in Korea on Monday were connected with an outbreak at a church in the Michuhol District of Incheon.

Public health authorities are currently tracking over 1,360 other people to see whether they have contracted the Omicron variant.

“We are currently tracking and monitoring over 600 people who have come into close contact with Omicron patients, over 400 people who were on the plane [with Omicron patients], and over 360 people who will be preemptively tested in connection with the church,” said Park Young-joon, head of the CDCH’s epidemiological investigation analysis team.

The disease control authorities explained that there are already five links in the chain of infection at the Incheon church, connecting the married couple who flew in from Nigeria to family members of those who attended religious events.

By Park Jun-yong and Kim Kwang-soo, staff reporters

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