'이태원클럽 코로나' 집단감염, 86명으로 증가

South Korea authorities are scrambling to contain a new coronavirus outbreak, searching for thousands of people who may have been infected in a cluster of cases linked to nightclubs and bars in the capital Seoul.
Nearly 90 COVID-19 cases have been reported to be linked to the Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul.
Our very own Choi Won-jong is on the scene tonight. Won-jong, are you at one of the clubs linked to the latest cluster infection?
Conn-young, right now I am standing in front of one of the clubs that a 29-year-old COVID-19 patient visited last Friday. As you can see behind me, there is a sign on the door, saying the place is currently closed due to the recent cluster infections.
As of Monday, the Central Disease Control Headquarters said that the total number of COVID-19 cases in connection with Itaewon clubs is now at 86. But an official said nearly 35% of all total cases are asymptomatic.
Just in Seoul today, there are 21 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, which brings the total connected with Itaewon to 51.
The streets are mostly empty right now. I talked to the owner from one of the restaurants here. He said that they usually get more than a hundred customers per day, but after the cluster infection at the nearby clubs, there has been a drop of almost 80-percent.
Wonjong, the mayor of Seoul has been pleading with clubgoers to be tested promising that personal information would be protected and warning that people caught evading testing could be fined.
What's it like there at the Yongsan-gu District office health center? We've been hearing that several thousand still need to be tested.
We visited Yongsan-gu District office on the way here, where we saw a long line of people who are getting ready to be tested. We met two college students from Denmark and one explained why they came to get tested today.
"So the whole school doesn't get infected because we are living in dorms. We are in contact with many people everyday."
Yongsan-gu office officials said on the phone today,...more than 7-hundred people came to get tested over the last weekend. However, health authorities are still worried that more than 3-thousand people, who may have been exposed to the virus in Itaewon, are not coming forward for testing.
Seoul Mayor, Park Won-soon, said Monday that the city will provide free, anonymous testing but in the meantime, health authorities are continuing to urge people to get tested at local health centers right away.
Choi Won-jong, reporting live from Itaewon, Seoul. Back to you, Conn-young.
Thanks, Wonjong. Great job.