Rare COVID-19 cluster of foreign nationals occurs at college dorm

SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Yonhap) -- Twenty Vietnamese students living in a college dormitory in a central South Korean city have been diagnosed with COVID-19, local officials said Wednesday, reporting a rare coronavirus cluster of foreign nationals here.

The nation's latest mass infection occurred at Ajou Motor College in Boryeong, a South Chungcheong Province city about 200 kilometers south of Seoul.

The college reported its first confirmed case Monday, when a Vietnamese student residing in its dormitory tested positive for the coronavirus.

Municipal health authorities then conducted coronavirus tests on everyone suspected of having come into contact with the first patient -- 67 foreign dormitory residents (59 from Vietnam, seven from Uzbekistan and one from Thailand), 64 Korean dormitory residents and 31 school personnel.

Through the tests, 19 Vietnamese students have been confirmed to be infected, the officials said, noting authorities are to administer coronavirus tests to all 300 other dormitory residents Wednesday.

The municipal authorities are investigating the patients' travel and infection routes, suspecting that the group infection may have occurred due to close contact in enclosed dormitory rooms.

In recent weeks, a string of clusters of coronavirus infections have erupted at elderly nursing homes, churches, educational institutions and other multiuse facilities throughout South Korea, as the nation has reported around 1,000 new cases every day.

ycm@yna.co.kr
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