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A nightlife venue in Seoul, pictured on Monday, has signs on its doors that say “July 1 OPEN” since nightlife venues will be allowed to reopen on July 1 under the revised distancing rules. (Yonhap News)

The South Korean government has begun to develop disease control measures in response to a recent resurgence in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the greater Seoul area.

This appears motivated by concerns that a major spread of the virus in the capital region could have critics accusing it of acting inappropriately by implementing a new social distancing plan that loosens disease control restrictions.

According to statistics shared Monday by the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) on infections in different regions, the number of confirmed cases in the greater Seoul area has been steadily rising this month to account for nearly 80% of all domestic cases.

Weekly averages of daily domestic confirmed cases showed 66.3% of cases in the first week of June (1st to 7th) being diagnosed in greater Seoul. By the third (15th to 21st) and fourth (22nd to 28th) weeks, that rate had climbed to 75.1%, a rise of nearly 10 percentage points.

As of the start of the day Monday, the greater Seoul area accounted for 77.5% of all domestic patients testing positive the day before (366 out of 472).

At six, the greater Seoul area also accounts for the largest number of infection clusters nationally.

As of Monday, 58 people had tested positive in connection with a cluster involving restaurants in Seoul’s Mapo and Gangnam Districts. Another 124 confirmed cases had been recorded by the start of Monday in a cluster involving five different English afterschool academies in the Gyeonggi Province cities of Seongnam, Bucheon, Goyang, and Uijeongbu.

Twenty-two patients were diagnosed on June 19 in connection with a bar in Mapo, including six native speaker English teachers. From them, the virus spread to academy students and their family members and acquaintances.

The CDCH said the recent rise in domestic cases has centered on people in their 20s. According to the headquarters, patients in their 20s represented the largest segment among confirmed cases over the preceding week with a total of 636, or a rate of 9.3 per 100,000 people.

They also represented the age group experiencing the biggest rise, with cases jumping by 112 (21.4%) from the preceding week.

An examination of transmission pathways showed many patients in their 20s and 30s becoming infected through “multipurpose facilities” such as restaurants and nightlife establishments or through friends. In contrast, patients in their 40s and 50s were largely associated with cluster infections involving religious activities and workplaces.

Disease control authorities are not ruling out the possibility that the Delta variant of the virus may be affecting the transmission situation in greater Seoul. All four new clusters involving the Delta variant (37 patients) that the CDCH announced on Monday were reported in the greater Seoul region.

“The connection between the Delta variant and the nearly 80% rate of all confirmed cases being in the greater Seoul area is something that will require observation and analysis going forward,” said Park Young-joon, head of the CDCH epidemiological research team.

In response, the government decided to move up a scheduled Wednesday meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) presided over by the prime minister to Tuesday to discuss disease control measures for greater Seoul and other regions.

By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporter

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