Authorities: "Gangnam Coffee Shop and Hongcheon Camping Site Overlap with Confirmed Cases' Routes... Investigating Timeline"

COVID-19 Central Disease Control Headquarters Regular Briefing
"First Symptomatic Patient at Campsite Visited Gangnam Coffee Shop One Day Before Camping"

Jung Eun-kyung, Head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] It has been confirmed that a COVID-19 positive case related to a camping site in Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon Province, visited a coffee shop in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, where a cluster outbreak occurred before the camping trip.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 3rd, "As a result of the epidemiological investigation, it was confirmed that among the confirmed cases related to the Hongcheon camping site, the earliest symptomatic patient was at a coffee shop in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, for about 30 minutes around 2 p.m. on the 22nd of last month," adding, "An in-depth epidemiological investigation is underway to determine whether there was contact between confirmed cases."

It has not yet been determined what specific contact occurred between the Gangnam coffee shop patient and the Hongcheon camping site patient, or the infection sequence. The fact that they were in the same place at the same time was confirmed through closed-circuit television (CCTV), but whether the infection was transmitted through direct contact or via the surrounding environment requires further investigation, explained the health authorities. They added that if a transmission link is confirmed through additional investigation, the two groups may be reclassified as a single case.

Accumulated Confirmed Cases at Gangnam Coffee Shop and Hongcheon Camping Site Each Reach 10
"Reclassification as One Group Under Review Based on Investigation Results"

Chronologically, the earliest overlapping date at the coffee shop was the 22nd of last month, and it is estimated that the infection spread the following day to a restaurant in Yangjae-dong from one group and to the camping site from the other. Both the Yangjae-dong restaurant gathering and the Hongcheon cluster infection began on the 23rd.

According to the health authorities, as of noon on that day, one additional patient was confirmed in each group, bringing the total number of confirmed cases in both groups to 10 each. In the Gangnam coffee shop cluster, two patients were reported in Seoul, and the remaining eight were in Gyeonggi Province. For the Hongcheon camping site cluster, eight patients were in Gyeonggi Province and two in Gangwon Province.

Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said at a briefing that day, "(The two patients whose movements overlapped at the Gangnam coffee shop) were not at adjacent tables, but it was confirmed that they were close enough to appear on the same CCTV screen," adding, "They were having a meeting while drinking beverages, so they were not wearing masks." She continued, "There was contact within 2 meters, but contact through environmental surfaces is also possible, so we are analyzing the movement paths."