Seoul metropolitan area now a ‘Covid-19 war zone’ as South Korean capital records surge in cases

Medial workers carry a patient infected with the coronavirus onto an ambulance at an elderly care facility in Ulsan

Credit: Kim Young-tae /Yonhap

South Korea’s capital is now in a “Covid-19 war zone,” the health minister warned on Monday as the East Asian nation struggles to contain another strong surge of the virus. 

This week began with 615 new infections, bringing the total to more than 5,300 over the past ten days. 

Monday was the 30th consecutive day of triple-digit figures — an alarming landmark for a country that has been hailed as a pandemic success story because of its robust testing, tracing and treatment system, and the high level of mask-wearing. 

The nation has seen 38,161 and 549 deaths this year but there are now 7,873 active cases and concerns about rising hospital admissions. 

The latest spike in cases has been linked to private gatherings and facilities vulnerable to infections like schools, hospitals, restaurants and care homes. 

The first large Covid-19 outbreak in February took the country by surprise after it spread silently through mass gatherings of the secretive Shincheonji sect in the southern city of Daegu. 

The spread was beaten back by strict social distancing and isolation measures, easily available testing and tracing methods that involve mobile phone tracing and the use of surveillance cameras and credit card details. 

The borders have also been strictly controlled and most visitors required to quarantine for 14 days. 

Coronavirus South Korea Spotlight Chart — Cases default

But in a sign of how tough it has been even for successful countries to keep the lid on the virus, this summer further outbreaks were attributed to gatherings of Protestant churches, a mass rally in the centre of Seoul, and a cluster in the capital’s nightclub district. 

The current flood of cases appears to be more difficult to stem as it comes from multiple sources, and fears are rising that it could overwhelm the densely populated capital area where half of the country’s 51 million population live. 

The government has been criticised for taking the risk of reducing Covid-19 measures to their lowest level in October despite the ongoing spread of Covid-19. 

“The capital area is now a Covid-19 war zone,” Park Neung-hoo said on Monday, pleading with the public to be extra vigilant. 

Over the weekend he sounded the alarm that the virus could spread out of control if nothing was done, telling Reuters that “we concluded that this is a dangerous situation on the verge of expanding into a nationwide pandemic.”

South Korea has never had a full lockdown, but he said the country may need to further increase social distancing to prevent the current wave from “exploding into a major outbreak nationwide and collapsing the healthcare system.”

Stricter measures have already been introduced in the capital, which ban gatherings of more than 50, and shutter gyms and karaoke bars. School attendance has been scaled back. 

On Saturday, the capital’s municipal authorities enforced a curfew that requires restaurants, bars and cafes to close at 9pm.