Coronavirus: South Korea continues to see cluster outbreaks despite strict social distancing, East Asia

SEOUL – First, it was an outbreak of the coronavirus in Seoul’s nightclub district. Then, cluster infections detected at a logistics centre, a door-to-door sales company targeting the elderly, a ping pong club, a car enthusiast club gathering near the Han River, and the latest, an overnight church camp, followed. South Korea, despite its initial success in flattening the infection curve in March due to massive testing and aggressive contact tracing, has been plagued by sporadic outbreaks of the virus since early May, most notably in confined indoor spaces. New infections were found mostly in Seoul, despite a strict social…