이태원클럽 확진자 총 102명...전국 12개 시도 유흥시설 '폐쇄'
We begin tonight with rising COVID-19 cases linked to Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in the South Korean capital.
The number has climbed to at least 1-hundred-and two today. What's worrying health authorities even more are new emerging cases that suggest the outbreak there could be more widespread than initially thought.
Our Choi Won-jong starts us off tonight with the latest.
South Korea has seen more than a hundred COVID-19 cases from cluster infections linked to nightclubs in Itaewon.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported another 9 cases related to the cluster as of midday Tuesday, bringing the cluster's total to 102 cases.
Seoul has seen 64 of those cases, and Gyeonggi-do Province has reported 23 cases.
The health authorities have said some local districts are concerned about a high risk of more cluster infections.
Seoul's Seodaemun-gu District Office said on Monday,... that a new COVID-19 patient tested positive after visiting a club that was different from the five clubs from the first reported infection.
In Dongjak-gu District, a new COVID-19 patient has also tested positive after visiting a club in Itaewon on May 7 six days after the original patient from this cluster infection.
To contain the spread of the cluster infections within the community, the KCDC has imposed a temporary shutdown order for nightclubs across the country.
As of May 11, 10 local governments have imposed adminstrative orders banning large gatherings.
The city of Busan and Gyeongsangbuk-do Province will be the next to do so.
The health authorities have said most of the people who tested positive are asymptomatic,... which could lead to a higher risk of them spreading the virus to elderly people in the future.
Choi Won-jong, Arirang News.