Another string of infections of foreign workers detected in Dongducheon

A citizen gets a COVID-19 test in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, Tuesday, where 84 foreign workers have been diagnosed with the coronavirus. Yonhap

By Kang Seung-woo

More than 80 immigrant workers living in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi Province, have been infected with COVID-19, putting the health authorities on alert over a recent string of infections among foreign workers.

Municipal officials said a total of 3,966 documented foreigners have been tested in the city, north of Seoul, and 84 of them, along with four Koreans, were found to have contracted the coronavirus.

The municipal office launched the mass testing Sunday as part of a preventive measure against COVID-19, available to all regardless of whether test recipients have symptoms, as the adjacent areas have been troubled by a chain of infections among foreign workers. For example, Namyangju, 40 kilometers from Seoul, saw infections in 191 people, mostly immigrant workers, at a single plastic manufacturing plant.

According to the municipal office, the infected patients are living in Dongducheon, but their workplaces are in different areas, ranging from Yangju to Pocheon, and even Incheon.

The office also said the foreign workers used to hang out together after work, and there are several get-together venues there, raising fears of community transmissions.

In that respect, they assume that an infected foreign worker from another area may have transmitted the disease to foreigners in Dongducheon.

“The virus is spreading to foreign immigrants and their family members and acquaintances,” a city official said.