#15,286
During the last 10 days of February South Korea saw their number of confirmed COVID-19 cases rise from just 31, to 3150; a 100-fold increase. In early March - with hundreds of new COVID-19 cases being reported each day -South Korea declared `war' on the virus.
On May 10th, however, in South Korea Reports Uptick In Domestic COVID-19 Cases, we saw the biggest uptick in cases in nearly a month (27 = Domestic, 34 =Total), most of which were linked to a 29-year-old man who tested positive after spending time at five clubs and bars in Itaewon.
Most of this latest spike appears to be linked to employees working at an e-commerce logistics center located in Bucheon, west of Seoul (see Reuters Coronavirus outbreak at South Korea e-commerce warehouse drives spike in new cases).
They began testing aggressively and isolated any positive cases, potentially exposed individuals were quarantined, and they heavily promoted social distancing along with hand and respiratory hygiene.By the end of March, their total number of cases had tripled (n=9583), but their daily increases had dropped precipitously, often down into the double digits. April and May saw further reductions - with many days only adding single digit increases in cases - and a shift from domestic to imported cases.
On May 10th, however, in South Korea Reports Uptick In Domestic COVID-19 Cases, we saw the biggest uptick in cases in nearly a month (27 = Domestic, 34 =Total), most of which were linked to a 29-year-old man who tested positive after spending time at five clubs and bars in Itaewon.
As result, on May 9th the Mayor of Seoul issued an Administrative Order closing all bars and nightclubs in the city for at least the next 30 days.Since then, the number of new daily cases has declined, averaging about 20 per day (domestic and imported). At least until the past 24 hours, during which time 40 new cases were reported (37 domestic).
* Local government epidemiologic investigations are in progress, subject to change depending on epidemiological investigation results
○ 3 people were added for the group occurrence of the Original Bible Study Society, and a total of 12 people * have been confirmed so far. The additional contributors were two Rapachi Prayer Centers located in Nowon-gu, Seoul, and one elementary school teacher located in Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do.
* 1 Grace Methodist Church in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, 1 Grace Church in Dobong-gu, Seoul, 2 Rapachi Prayer Centers in Nowon-gu, Seoul (new), 6 Hwadouri Church in Namyangju-si, Gyeonggi-do, 1 Jusarang Church in Uijeongbu-si, Gyeonggi-do, and 1 contact with confirmed persons (new) Etc
○ There were 27 additional confirmed cases compared to the previous day related to the collective occurrence of the Coupang Logistics Center in Bucheon-si, Gyeonggi-do, and 36 confirmed persons have been identified.
* 32 distribution center employees, 4 contacts (family living together) / Incheon 22, Gyeonggi 10, Seoul 4
Most of this latest spike appears to be linked to employees working at an e-commerce logistics center located in Bucheon, west of Seoul (see Reuters Coronavirus outbreak at South Korea e-commerce warehouse drives spike in new cases).
The index case at the e-commerce center, who was diagnosed over the weekend, appears to be linked to the nightclub cluster earlier in the month.
Although most countries half their size would be happy to report just 40 new cases in a single day, this is a reminder that no matter how close you get to zero - even with continued vigilance - there are always going to be opportunities for the virus to flare again.
