JAKARTA - South Korea's (South Korean) health authorities say they have no plans to restore tightening social distancing rules even though the coronavirus or COVID-19 pandemic has just started to break out in Seoul, which is the country's capital.
The authorities have now chosen to fight by tracking and testing thousands of people over the past week, according to Reuters. Tests were carried out after new cases of COVID-19 were linked to a nightclub and bar in Itaewon, Seoul, which raised fears of a second wave of outbreaks.
Health authorities have linked at least 119 cases of COVID-19 to nightclub establishments, which have recently reopened as part of a move by the state to relax restrictions on activities to accelerate the economy.
South Korea's Deputy Health Minister, Kim Gang Lip, said restoring social rules would not be carried out as long as the daily number of new cases was below 50 and officials were able to track 95 percent of all infections.
"For now, we will still monitor how the current transmission is going and see if we should reconsider our policies," Kim Gang Lip told a news conference.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported that there were at least 26 new cases on Tuesday May 12, 21 of which were related to the nightclub outbreak in Seoul. This figure is slightly lower than the calculation reported in the previous two days.
The outbreak has also prompted officials to close some nightclubs and bars back and delay reopening schools by a week at the latest. But the South Korean government remains on its decision to ease broader restrictions on activities by reopening offices, public facilities and sports centers. Seoul officials have also previously introduced a new policy requiring people to wear face masks during rush hour on the subway.
About 20,000 people have been tested since the new cluster was first revealed last week. Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon also said that the test included thousands of geolocations by cell phone data.
More than 1,200 of those found to have symptoms of COVID-19 are foreigners. This prompted the Seoul Municipal Government to send automated text messages in English asking people to be tested.
The confirmed cases of COVID-19 include workers, family members and people who go to night clubs. Mayor Park Won-soon expressed concern that a large proportion of young people infected with the coronavirus could expand the outbreak.
"This is very worrying," he said
Criminal RulesThe authorities of Incheon, a city west of Seoul, said they were considering filing a criminal complaint against one nightclub visitor who was infected with COVID-19. Visitors to the club did not disclose to local authorities that he worked at a private school which was at risk of transmitting the virus to his students.
Investigators tracked the man's movements using his cellphone data and learned that he worked at a school where five students and one teacher have since been confirmed to have contracted COVID-19. A student was personally tutored by the man and the student's mother also tested positive for COVID-19.
"If there are more cases where people provide inaccurate information, the government cannot take proactive action, we cannot prevent the spread of secondary and tertiary infections, and our entire society can return in a dangerous atmosphere," said the South Korean Deputy Health Minister.
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