According to SKorea's SBS News, there are now 47 confirmed COVID-19 cases as a result of the young people who went nightclubbing in Itaewon.
Health authorities aren't able to reach up to 1,309 people who might have had contact in the nightclub.
Health authorities aren't able to reach up to 1,309 people who might have had contact in the nightclub.
Health authorities attempted to contact the people they suspect that had contact with the coronavirus patient using the phone numbers they listed at the entrance. However, two-thirds of the numbers were fake names/phone numbers.
One man who went to one of the nightclubs in Itaewon got himself tested after he saw the news. He tested positive. It turned out that he worked at a call center in a 20-story building. The entire building has been shut down.
Three soldiers have contracted the coronavirus as well. The ROK Armed Forces forbade ALL leave when some soldiers contracted the virus. The Ministry of Defense has said it is not currently considering canceling leave again.
The Ministry of Education has also said that it is not currently considering further postponing the reopening of schools. Schools are set to reopen on May 13th.
Those who are already familiar with the Itaewon nightclubs need not be reminded of the circumstances. Those who are not familiar with it can look it up yourselves. I will not rehash them here.
What I will say is that this is the perfect recipe for a disaster.
What I will say is that this is the perfect recipe for a disaster.
This is a nightmare. On the one hand, for obvious reasons, these people's privacy has to be protected. But on the other hand, contact tracing requires a fair amount of their information to be made public in order for it to be effective.
And for understandable reasons, many of them aren't keen on coming forward.
Just like how the SKorean government promised not to prosecute or deport undocumented immigrant workers who volunteered to get tested, the government must find a delicate way to resolve this.
Just like how the SKorean government promised not to prosecute or deport undocumented immigrant workers who volunteered to get tested, the government must find a delicate way to resolve this.
Failure to do so could exacerbate the situation and undo all the progress that SKorea has made against COVID-19.
Two things can be said for sure.
1) This is not over until it is over. And the only way to ensure that COVID-19 is over is for there to be widely available vaccines.
2) Until there is a vaccine, there is no going back to the days of pre-COVID19.
1) This is not over until it is over. And the only way to ensure that COVID-19 is over is for there to be widely available vaccines.
2) Until there is a vaccine, there is no going back to the days of pre-COVID19.
Typically, I provide links to what I write about to show that I'm not pulling stuff out of thin air. I didn't do so this time because I was translating what I was watching on TV. Here's a link that mentions the 1309 figure.
sedaily.com/NewsVIew/1Z2OO…
sedaily.com/NewsVIew/1Z2OO…
