Itaewon club-linked infections now at 75: Seoul mayor

All News 09:24 May 11, 2020

SEOUL, May 11 (Yonhap) -- Coronavirus infections linked to clubs and bars in Itaewon, Seoul's multicultural neighborhood, have totaled 75 nationally, the city's mayor said Monday.

After keeping local infections at zero for a few days, South Korea saw an unexpected spike in cases coming from entertainment facilities in the popular area, with infections reported not only in Seoul but across the country.

The number of cases reported across the country has reached 75, including 49 in the country's capital, Mayor Park Won-soon said in a radio interview with broadcaster KBS.

People walk past a dance club in the popular international district of Itaewon in Seoul on May 9, 2020. The club was shut down, as a man in his 20s who tested positive for COVID-19 visited the place on May 1. Some 500 people were reportedly present at that time. (Yonhap)

Park said that the city government has secured the names of 5,517 people who visited the affected facilities and has gotten in touch with 2,405 of them.

Among those the city managed to get in touch with were 28 foreigners, he added.

The mayor said those who were not accounted for are believed to have provided false information or be trying to evade contact. Park urged them to get checked for infection.

On Saturday, the city government imposed an administrative order on all nightlife facilities here, effectively suspending businesses as a precaution against additional outbreaks.

mlee@yna.co.kr
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