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Seoul residents wear masks outside on Aug. 23. (Yonhap News)

For three consecutive days, South Korea has reported more than 300 new cases of COVID-19, with the daily total nearing 400 on Aug. 23. This month alone, more than 50 major infection clusters have appeared or continued. The second wave of COVID-19 that began at Sarang Jeil Church, in Seoul's Seongbuk District, seems to be spreading to points around the country through a number of other clusters. Since the public health authorities are currently testing major exposed populations and are working on contact tracing for infected individuals, the number of new infections is expected to increase for some time to come.

South Korea’s Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCHQ) reported on Sunday that a total of 397 new cases of COVID-19 had been diagnosed the previous day, including 387 domestic cases and 10 cases imported from overseas. That’s the most since the infection cluster at the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji religious sect erupted back in February and March.

The number of major cluster infections through which disease control authorities are managing cases rose from just nine as of the last week of July to 38 as of last week. For August as a whole, the number of overall cluster infections with new patients emerging or being added stands at 54. Over the two weeks from Aug. 9 to 22, the average number of new cases diagnosed each day was 162.1, an increase of 150.1 from 12.0 for the preceding two weeks.

Disease control authorities predicted the scale of new confirmed cases would continue to rise. In a regular briefing on Aug. 23, Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Director Jung Eun-kyeong said, “We aren’t viewing this as the peak. We’re predicting the number of patients will increase further for the time being.”

Some people exposed to the risk of infection have yet to be tested, and contact tracing is still under way for patient family members as well as people who came into contact with infected persons in workplaces and public facilities. This means the possibility remains for additional cases of “nth degree” transmission.

“With patients emerging in all 17 of South Korea’s metropolitan cities and provinces, this is a severe and serious situation where we stand poised for a nationwide pandemic,” Jung warned.

On Aug. 23, the KCDC confirmed another 45 cases associated with Sarang Jeil Church, bringing the cumulative total to 841. To date, additional transmissions connected to the church have emerged in a total of 21 locations, with 112 patients diagnosed in all. Disease control authorities are currently conducting epidemiological studies in 168 locations to prevent the infections from spreading further. As of Aug. 23, around 3,600 people had been tested for the virus in connection with Sarang Jeil Church. The KCDC explained, “There are still some cases left where we haven’t been able to reach people or their contact information has been inaccurate. We’re also finding cases of people who won’t comply with testing efforts.”

“We plan to cross-analyze with the information obtained in the [Sarang Jeil Church] search and seizure to establish an accurate list and take measures,” it said.

Confirmed cases also emerged for the first time from an annex building in the Central Government Complex in Seoul, which is used by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA). A MOFA employee and a cleaner both tested positive for the virus on the evening of Aug. 22. Both of them were found to have undergone testing after their spouse tested positive. All teachers, staff, and over 200 second-year students at Surak Middle School in Seoul’s Nowon District were tested after a student tested positive on Aug. 22. The results were all negative, it was reported on Aug. 23.

Additional infections have been diagnosed throughout South Korea, chiefly in connection with locations where past confirmed cases have emerged. Among the newly confirmed cases were seven patients connected to Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District (cumulative total 35), six to Woongjin Think Big in Gwangju (seven), five to a funeral parlor in Daegu’s Seo (West) District (six), 31 to Galilee Presbyterian Church in Incheon’s Bupyeong District (32), six to a senior citizen daytime care center in Incheon’s Michuhol District (seven), and 10 to a Homeplus food court in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province (11).

At the national level, the virus’s basic reproduction number (R0) for the past week stood at 1.67, the KCDC said. R0 shows the average number of people infected with the virus by a single patient. Jung explained, “There are high numbers for the Greater Seoul area at 1.65 and the Honam region at 2.18.”

By Park Da-hae and Suh Hye-mi, staff reporters

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