Clubs in Seoul have been ordered to close indefinitely
A new cluster of infections has been linked to nightclubs
Not more than a week after South Korea eased its lockdown and nightclubs began to reopen, the government has once again ordered the country's 2,100 nightlife venues to close.
Seoul's mayor, Park Won-soon, said at a press conference yesterday that at least 40 infections had been linked to nightclubs in the city and that the number of infections could rise as workers scramble to trace contacts of clubgoers before they can spread “secondary infections from wherever they live.”
The new flare-up is at least partially linked to a 29-year-old man who went club-hopping at five nightclubs in the Itaewon area of the city last weekend before testing positive with COVID-19 on Wednesday May 6. At least 17 infections linked directly to him. As of yesterday, officials were tracking down more than 7,000 people who had visited nightclubs in the city.
“Just because of a few people’s carelessness, all our efforts so far can go to waste,” the mayor added.
The new order goes into effect immediately and leaves all clubs, bars, room salons and other entertainment establishments banned from hosting crowds of people, just days after the country relaxed social distancing guidelines and residents of the city were told to begin “a new daily life with COVID-19.”
Clubs in South Korea has just begun to open last weekend with several venues making clear the measures they were taking to prevent the spread of the virus such as as temperature checks.
[via New York Times & Yonhap News Agency]
