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A club in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood recently visited by a confirmed COVID-19 patient. (Kim Hye-yun, staff photographer)

The novel coronavirus strain that has been spreading in an infection cluster associated with clubs in Seoul’s Itaewon neighborhood is the “G-strain” that has been spreading in Europe and the US rather than the type that had previously been prevalent in South Korea, an analysis shows. This discovery may be lead in determining the initial transmission route, which remains unclear for now.

On May 21, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced, “The virus found in confirmed COVID-19 virus patients associated with the Itaewon clubs is the G-strain prevalent in Europe and the US, rather than S-strain chiefly found in South Korea to date in cases such as the Shincheonji cluster in Daegu.” Both strains of the virus are mutations of the V-strain found early on in patients in the Chinese city of Wuhan. While the G-strain had been seen individually in South Korea among patients arriving from Europe and the US, it did not become widely transmitted at the time.

The revelation that the virus belongs to the G-strain may be a clue in determining the origins of the Itaewon club cases. While some research has suggested this form of the virus may be more transmissible, Bang Ji-hwan, who heads the central clinical committee tasks force, said, “The emergence of mutations in an acute respiratory virus is a natural development, and there are no major differences in terms of patient symptoms or fatality rates.”

By Kwon Ji-dam, Choi Ha-yan, staff reporters

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