5 New COVID-19 Cases Added in Busan on the 19th, Including 2 Students from Bumin Campus
Donga University Switches to Fully Online Classes Until Next Month 4th from Mixed In-Person and Online Format
On the morning of the 18th, citizens waiting for COVID-19 testing at a screening clinic in Songpa-gu, Seoul. [Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] On the 19th, five new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Busan.
Among them, two are students currently attending in-person classes at Dong-A University Bumin Campus in Busan, causing the university to be thrown into turmoil.
According to Busan City, among the five additional confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Busan area that morning, two (Busan 366 and 368) are students enrolled at Dong-A University Bumin Campus.
These two students do not know each other, and both developed symptoms on the 17th, got tested, and were confirmed positive on the 19th. Their infection routes have not yet been identified.
One of them is known to live in a dormitory, while the other is a student living alone.
Health authorities have set up a screening clinic on the university campus to test contacts and others. An epidemiological investigation is underway regarding the movements of the confirmed cases.
Dong-A University had been conducting remote classes but started a hybrid model of in-person and remote classes from the 14th. Due to the occurrence of infections among enrolled students, the university switched to fully remote classes from the 19th until the 4th of next month.
Including the two confirmed cases at Dong-A University on this day, five additional confirmed cases were reported, bringing the total number of cases in Busan to 370.
Two contacts (369 and 370) of the previously confirmed Busan 362 case were also confirmed positive on this day.
The number of confirmed cases related to patient 362 has increased to five (Busan 359, 364, 369, 370, and Gyeongnam 284).
The epidemiological investigation revealed that patient 369 dined at the same table as patient 362. Also, patient 370, confirmed positive on this day, is a family member of patient 362.
Busan City estimates that the infection related to patient 362 likely occurred through the ventilation system inside the restaurant.
Previously confirmed patient 359 was found to be part of another group dining at an adjacent table, and patient 362 was dining at a table more than 2 meters away.
A Busan City official stated, “Based on analysis of on-site photos, the restaurant had facilities for grilling meat and ventilating odors, so it is presumed that transmission occurred through the air via the ventilation system.”
On this day, one confirmed case (367) with an unknown infection route also emerged. Patient 367 developed suspected COVID-19 symptoms and was tested on the 18th, receiving a positive diagnosis.
Busan City is conducting an epidemiological investigation to determine the infection route of this patient.
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