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| A street in Seoul's Gangnam District is nearly empty, Wednesday, as COVID-19 continues to spread across the country. Yonhap |
By Bahk Eun-ji
Small gatherings and interactions between family members, acquaintances, and coworkers have been flagged as a worrisome source of COVID-19 infections since October, health authorities said Wednesday. In particular, interactions between small groups of two to five people at a time accounted for the most infection routes across all age groups.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) released the results of its analysis of the characteristics of infection routes of 16,286 COVID-19 patients from Oct. 1 to Dec. 10.
According to the results, 62.5 percent of people in their 20s and 50s contracted the virus when they were engaged in social activities during this period, while for people in their 60s or older, in the high-risk group, this was much lower, at 26.5 percent.
Among the patients who were infected through small group interactions, 35 percent ― 325 people ― were aged under 19. The number of people aged between 40 and 59 was 23.8 percent or 566; 19 percent, or 439 people, were aged 60 and older; and 16.3 percent, or 315 people, were aged between 20 and 39.
This suggests that administrative measures by the government and local governments alone have limitations in curbing virus spread. In other words, minimizing contact between family members, acquaintances, and work colleagues can boost efforts to curb the fast- spreading virus.
"Although the holidays are fast approaching and party season is just around the corner, it is more important than ever to actively abide by the social distancing rules and to minimize human contact as much as possible," said KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-Kyeong during a recent briefing.
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