hankyoreh

The headquarters of e-commerce company Coupang in Seoul’s Songpa District, where an employee tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 24. (Yonhap News)

The coronavirus clusters that have cropped up at churches, rallies, and door-to-door sales companies are rapidly spreading through every corner of South Koreans’ daily routines, including hypermarkets, schools, restaurants, and cafés.

On Apr. 24, South Korea reported 266 new cases of COVID-19, the first time in four days that the tally had fallen below 300. But health authorities are cautioning the public not to get its hopes up about the moderate drop in cases. Not only has the average daily tally multiplied 13-fold over the past two weeks, but infection routes are steadily expanding, suggesting that the disease will continue to spread for some time.

The daily total of 266 new cases reported on Monday was a considerable decrease from the previous day, when the total neared 400. But it’s too soon to take that as a hopeful sign. Fewer people are tested over the weekend than during the week, which tends to produce a lower daily caseload on Monday and Tuesday.

That interpretation is backed up by the daily number of suspected cases tabulated by the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCHQ), which was above 20,000 on both Apr. 20 and 21 but dropped to 15,000 and 13,000 on Apr. 22 and 23. The number of suspected cases combines the number of people who test positive or negative on a given day as well as the number of people still being tested.

COVID-19 has been spreading rapidly around the country. A statistical analysis by disease control authorities found that the average number of new domestic cases over the past two weeks (Aug. 9 to 22) had risen 13-fold compared to the previous two weeks (July 26-Aug. 8), from 12.0 to 162.1. There was an average of 136.7 confirmed cases in the Greater Seoul area, accounting for 84% of the total. Over the same period, average daily cases outside of the Seoul region increased more than 14-fold, from 1.8 to 25.4.

New cases continue to appear in connection with major infection clusters, including Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul and a rally in the city’s Gwanghwamun Square. The number of cases linked to Sarang Jeil Church rose by 34 on Monday to a total of 875, while 40 more people connected with the Gwanghwamun rally, including seven police officers, were diagnosed with the coronavirus, adding up to 176 altogether. One person who attended an Aug. 15 labor rally at Bosingak Belfry, Seoul, organized by the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, was also diagnosed with the disease.

“We’re currently investigating the movements of the infected individual, the transmission route, and the source of the infection. If we deem it likely that other people were exposed, we plan to take similar measures [to those taken with participants in the Gwanghwamun rally],” said Jung Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).

More medical staff have been contracting the disease in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province. After a nurse in the intensive care unit at Soonchunhyang University Cheonan Hospital tested positive for COVID-19 on Aug. 22, nine more people, including employees and their families, have also been diagnosed, the Hankyoreh discovered on Monday.

More infection clusters have also formed in connection with door-to-door sales and business presentations. An outbreak at a food court at Homeplus in Suncheon, South Jeolla Province, was traced back to the Muhan Group, a company located in Seoul’s Gwanak District.

“The Muhan Group, which appears to be a cryptocurrency company, is currently under investigation. The index patient at the food court had attended a business presentation by the Muhan Group. So far, a total of 25 people in South Jeolla Province, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon, and Busan have been infected in connection with that presentation,” the disease control authorities said.

By Park Da-hae, staff reporter

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