Fears growing over mass outbreak of COVID-19 ahead of Halloween

A street in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul, remains quiet, Wednesday, three days before Halloween. Popular clubs in the district have decided to close over the weekend to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

With Halloween falling on Saturday, the authorities and experts reminded the public of their concerns that gathering in large groups for celebrations over the weekend could trigger another mass COVID-19 outbreak.

“Again, we advise people to stay home and not to have any big gatherings for their safety,” Sohn Young-rae, an official from the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said during a daily briefing Friday.

“The situation in the Seoul metropolitan area is rapidly reaching a flashpoint,” said Kim Woo-joo, an infectious disease professor at Korea University's Guro Hospital, said during a YouTube broadcast the previous day.

Large-scale popular nightclubs in Itaewon, Gangnam and Hongdae in Seoul have closed in cooperation with the government's infection control measures, but there is still a possibility of crowds flocking to smaller clubs or other entertainment establishments.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it will monitor large venues during the weekend to prevent the possible spread of the virus.

In line with the government's infection control efforts, the United States Forces Korea (USFK) has placed the popular nightlife district of Itaewon in central Seoul off-limits for the Halloween weekend.

“The Itaewon entertainment district is off-limits to all USFK-affiliated personnel, between 3 p.m. Oct. 31, until 9 a.m., Nov. 1, because of the increased public health threat,” a USFK official said during a Facebook broadcast Wednesday.

The country's daily new COVID-19 cases increased by triple digits for the third consecutive day, mainly due to sporadic infection clusters that have continuously emerged not only in the Seoul metropolitan area but across the country, the health authorities said Friday.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the nation added 114 infections, including 93 locally transmitted ones, for Thursday, raising the total caseload to 26,385. This marked a rise from the 103 new cases reported Tuesday and a slight fall from 125, Wednesday.

In addition to the steady number of group infection cases in nursing homes and rehabilitation hospitals, sporadic group infections continued to rise from small gatherings, as well as saunas, schools and churches.

Among the newly detected locally transmitted cases, 47 were reported in Seoul, 23 in Gyeonggi Province and two in Incheon, west of the capital. Ten cases were reported in Daegu and six were detected in Gangwon Province. One additional death was reported, raising the total to 463 with a fatality rate of 1.75 percent.