Daejeon Mayor Heo Tae-jung held an emergency briefing on the 4th to announce plans to restrict the operating hours of entertainment establishments and karaoke rooms in the region. Photo by Daejeon City
[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] In Daejeon, n-th generation infections mediated by church congregants are spreading.
According to Daejeon City on the 4th, as of 6 p.m. that day, 13 new confirmed cases (numbers 1364 to 1376) were reported in the region.
Among them, 7 people (numbers 1365, 1366, 1368, and 1371 to 1374) are congregants, acquaintances, and family members of Church A located in Songchon-dong, Daedeok-gu. The health authorities believe they are linked to a confirmed case (index case Gunsan 190) related to a sister church meeting in Gunsan, Jeonbuk. The total number of confirmed cases related to the Gunsan sister church has increased to 28, including these individuals.
Previously, on the 2nd, five congregants (numbers 1328 to 1332) of Church A in Daejeon were confirmed positive for COVID-19. These congregants were found to have attended sister church meetings in various locations including Gunsan, Jeonbuk (cases 190, 191, 196, etc.), Daejeon, Jeonju, and Hoengseong, Gangwon.
Using these congregants as a vector, 13 people (numbers 1346, 1347, 1348, 1351 to 1359, and 1361) were confirmed positive for COVID-19 in Daejeon the previous day. The confirmed cases from the previous day were identified as family members, acquaintances, and fellow church members of the congregants who attended the sister church meeting.
Cases of additional confirmed infections mediated by family and acquaintances are also increasing. For example, numbers 1369 and 1370, confirmed positive on this day, are family members of number 1360, and number 1375 (a preschool child) is a family member of number 1350.
The problem is that additional confirmed cases continue to emerge while the infection routes of existing confirmed cases have not been identified.
In fact, health authorities are currently conducting epidemiological investigations to identify the infection routes of cases 1350 and 1360. Also, case 1367 (a teenager residing in Yuseong-gu) has not yet had their infection route confirmed and is under investigation.
Meanwhile, the city held an emergency briefing on the 4th and announced that from that day forward, between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m., five types of entertainment facilities and karaoke businesses in the area will be prohibited from operating.
This measure was taken considering the ongoing cluster infections and n-th generation infections of COVID-19 in the region and will be maintained for one week from the 5th to the 11th. However, restaurants and cafes are exempt from this business restriction measure.
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