Guro-gu "No Virus Detected in Samples Collected from Apartment Ventilation Ducts"

Reference image of COVID-19 screening clinic / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] On the 27th, Guro-gu, Seoul, announced that no virus was detected in 14 samples collected from the ventilation ducts of an apartment in Guro-gu where a cluster infection of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) occurred.

Meanwhile, two additional confirmed cases were reported on the same day from two households living in the adjacent line of the apartment, not the line where the previously confirmed 8 residents from 5 households lived until the day before.

The two newly confirmed residents (Guro-gu cases 136 and 137) live on different floors and are not related.

Guro-gu disclosed this information through the daily COVID-19 report on its homepage. Accordingly, the previously raised hypothesis that "the virus may have spread through the apartment ventilation ducts" has lost its credibility.

Guro-gu explained, "To find the infection route and cause, our district, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Seoul City, and experts in epidemiology, architecture, and facilities jointly visited the apartment and conducted an investigation." However, they did not comment on the infection route.

Guro-gu added that among the apartment residents tested, 183 people tested negative, excluding the 10 confirmed cases from 7 households.

Seoul City announced that by 6 p.m. on the 27th, 4 more COVID-19 confirmed cases related to this apartment were identified, bringing the total to 32. This includes secondary cases transmitted through a meat processing factory in Geumcheon-gu, where some apartment residents work.