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By Jun Ji-hye
The government is bracing for a second wave of COVID-19 cases in Seoul and the metropolitan area as sporadic infection clusters continue to occur in the densely populated region, the health authorities said Monday.
Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo said 26 out of 27 infection clusters that have emerged since May have occurred in the capital, the nearby city of Incheon and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province.
The cases include those traced to nightclubs in Seoul's Itaewon, and a Coupang logistics center in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province.
"Group transmissions in Seoul and the metropolitan area have become more serious, and concern is mounting regarding a second wave of COVID-19 in the region," Park said during a government meeting on responses to the coronavirus pandemic.
Most recently, Richway, a Seoul-based multi-level marketing company selling health food supplements, has emerged as a new hotbed for the spread of the contagious disease, with the number of cases linked to the firm reaching 169 as of noon Monday.
An infection cluster that broke out at the firm has spread to at least eight other groups, including a Protestant church attended by Chinese immigrants and a call center operated by an investment company in the capital.
Park noted that the government has already begun to discuss response plans for a second wave of infections.
"We cannot rule out the possibility that infections that occurred in the capital region can be spread to other areas," Park said. "Infections at the multi-level marketing company have been already spread to Chuncheon in Gangwon Province."
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 37 new cases ― 24 local and 13 imported infections ― were detected Sunday, which raised the nation's total to 12,121. The death toll remains at 277.
Among the 24 local infections, 22 came from the capital area.
Adding to woes is that there has been an increase in the number of patients over 60 years old ― senior citizens are known to be more vulnerable to the disease.
"For the past two weeks, those over 60 years old have accounted for about 40 percent in the number of new patients," Park said, noting that most of the elderly patients contracted the virus at nursing homes and day centers.
The minister said the government will continue to work to contain the spread of the virus and secure sufficient medical personnel and hospital beds as well as protective medical equipment.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun also warned Sunday that the second wave in the densely populated capital area would be much more serious than the previous outbreak in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.
"The number of patients in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province has exceeded 1,000, respectively," Chung said during a government meeting. "These days, there are more people being hospitalized than those being discharged."
The government's warning comes at a time when China is fighting a sudden resurgence of infections in Beijing, after the city had reported no new locally transmitted cases for eight weeks.
China, the virus pandemic epicenter, had been promoting its apparent victory in its fight against the disease.
