[ad_1]
The first wave of virus has defeated South Korea. Now, an outbreak on Seoul’s gay and lesbian scene reveals a weakness in aggressive testing policy.
A worker in a protective suit disinfects a restaurant in the nightlife district of Itaewon, in the South Korean capital of Seoul.
The coronavirus also has no morale in South Korea. First, a group of viruses in a Christian sect detonated the first wave of the country’s epidemic. Now, an outbreak on the Seoul nightclub scene could trigger a second wave of coronavirus just as society appears to have delayed the epidemic. Because the case shows South Koreans how virulent the virus is and the limits of South Korea’s famous testing program.
Train at five bars and clubs.
As in February, a single infected person in the surrounding area was enough to trigger a large chain of infection. At the time, it was a 61-year-old woman who brought the virus to the faithful in Daegu City in the densely packed services of her cult. This time, the crowded bars and nightclubs in Seoul’s Itaewon district acted as a tinder for a source of the virus. An infected 29-year-old man had celebrated the relaxation of South Korea’s relatively mild restraints with a party marathon ten days ago. With his train through five bars and clubs, he triggered the latest super spreader event.
Authorities are aware of the high risk of infection from crowds in locked rooms. However, neither churches nor entertainment venues were systematically closed in liberal South Korea. Instead, visitors must provide names and contact details, including phone numbers, at the entrance. This means that they can be found, tested and quarantined quickly in the event of a virus.
By Monday, authorities had identified 86 new coronavirus infections associated with Itaewon. They include 63 club visitors and 21 family and friends, as announced by the Korea Disease Control Center. But when they searched for the contacts, the health authorities, which until now had been so successful, ran into one obstacle: when they reviewed the several thousand names on the Itaewon bar visitor lists, they discovered that the names or numbers of phone were sometimes wrong.
Aggressive testing and monitoring take revenge
Many infections took place in pubs where the LGBT community gathers, that is, lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people. Many visitors reportedly did not disclose their actual coordinates for fear of discrimination. In addition, many of those affected did not comply with the authorities’ request to be tested immediately.
While homosexuality is not a punishable offense in South Korea, many fear that she will be socially excluded or that she will lose her job if her sexual orientation is known. You have reason to be afraid: the very fact that there are numerous contagions in bars on the LGBT scene triggered a wave of inflammatory comments on the Internet.
Gays and lesbians fear being defeated against their will by South Korea’s aggressive and transparent testing and monitoring system. To quickly identify contact people for infected people, authorities not only use data from cell phones and credit cards, but also images from surveillance cameras. In addition to the places visited, they also publish the age and sex of those infected on the Internet.
This hits privacy. However, the freedom of movement of the Koreans was largely maintained. Along with peaceful social distancing, wearing masks, and good hand hygiene, the country brought a rapid outbreak under control in February, with no curfews or trade closings. The success speaks for itself: last week, no new infections were detected for several days.
Anonymous, free trials
But the harshness of the system is now counterproductive: As of Monday, only 2,456 of the 5,517 attendees at the Itaewon party could be tested. Politicians are aware of the explosiveness. Seoul Mayor Park Won Soon said in a warning tone: “If the virus enters Seoul, the nation is at risk.” The megacity is the economic and political heart of the country. Jeong Eun Kyeong, head of the KCDC disease control center, said in a hurry, “We have to find the infected quickly to stop the local spread.”
Mayor Park has closed all nightclubs in the metropolis. However, he and the KCDC do not want to rely solely on the fact that all contact persons can be found. That is why there are now free and anonymous tests. Authorities expect potentially infected people to report if their privacy is protected. Now it is necessary to demonstrate if those affected trust the state.
