Korea overwhelmed by rapid spread of coronavirus
Quarantine officials move a patient suspected of having been infected with the coronavirus to Kyungpook National University Hospital in Daegu, Wednesday, amid growing concerns over the spread of the contagious virus in local communities despite the government tightening quarantine measures. / Yonhap
20 new cases confirmed Wednesday with most in Daegu, North Gyeongsang Province
By Jun Ji-hye
The government reported a spike in new coronavirus infections Wednesday after 20 new cases were identified, raising the total number of patients to 51 as of 10 p.m.
Of the new patients, 18 live in Daegu and the adjacent North Gyeongsang Province, the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said, raising concerns that the contagious COVID-19 (2019-nCoV) is spreading across local communities despite the administration's toughened quarantine measures.
Fifteen out of the 18 new patients of the region are believed to have been infected by the 31st patient, a 61-year-old woman living in Daegu, who was confirmed the previous day ― 14 attended the same church as the woman, and one had person-to-person contact with her at a hospital in Daegu.
The KCDC said the incident at the church was a “super spread” of the infectious virus, but remained cautious about branding the 31st patient as a “super spreader.”
“A further epidemiological investigation at the church is underway to determine who was the source of the infection and what the pathway was,” KCDC chief Jung Eun-kyeong said in a regular briefing.
The health authorities said that they are still working to find out how three other patients who reside near the city were infected as they have not been in contact with any of the confirmed coronavirus patients nor been abroad recently.
The surge in the number of confirmed patients in the region has led to the shutdown of emergency rooms at multiple hospitals there, including Kyungpook National University Hospital, which the patients visited.
“The central government is cooperating with municipalities to take appropriate measures, such as isolating patients, to prevent the spread of the coronavirus,” Noh Hong-in, an official of the central disaster management headquarters, said during a press briefing.
Two of the newly confirmed patients, the 32nd and 40th, reside in Seoul and Suwon.
The health authorities said the 32nd patient is the 11-year-old daughter of the 20th patient living in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, who was confirmed to be infected Feb. 5. She is the first child to have been infected with the disease here.
The 40th patient is a 77-year-old man living in Seoul's Seongdong District. He had not traveled overseas in recent months nor been in contact with any of the confirmed coronavirus patients, leaving quarantine officials the task of tracking down how they contracted the virus.
Meanwhile, a plane from the President's Flight arrived back in Seoul earlier in the day, carrying six Korean nationals and a Japanese spouse who were aboard the quarantined cruise ship Diamond Princess docked in Yokohama, Japan.
None of the evacuees showed symptoms associated with the coronavirus such as a fever, officials said, noting that they will be quarantined for the next 14 days.
The cruise ship has been in a quarantine lockdown since it reported 10 coronavirus infections Feb. 5. The number of confirmed cases on the ship has since surged to more than 500 out of 3,700 on board.
With the Japanese authorities planning to end the ship's quarantine, the Korean government said it will bar foreigners released from the vessel from entering the country.
Eight Korean nationals, who are aboard the ship and decided not to return home on the plane, will be ordered to quarantine themselves at home if they decide to come back to Korea.