South Korea links 162 cases to clubgoers

South Korean officials say they so far confirmed 162 coronavirus cases linked to club goers in the densely populated Seoul metropolitan area, but also expressed cautious hope that infections are beginning to wane.

Health Ministry official Son Young-rae on Saturday said the country may have ducked a major surge in transmissions in a region where half of its 51 million people live, pointing out that the daily increase in infections have been within 30 over the past days despite a jump in tests.

Son said 46,000 have so far been tested after health workers earlier this month detected a slew of infections linked to clubs and other nightspots in Seoul's Itaewon entertainment district.

It's notable there were no new transmissions in churches, call centers and gyms where virus carriers went to, Son said.

He said this was a sign that facilities and businesses are properly practicing hygiene and enforcing distance between people, which he said would be crucial as the country explores a more sustainable form of social distancing.

Authorities had expanded what they call anonymous testing, which allows people to provide only their phone numbers and not their names for COVID-19 tests.

Some South Korean media have described the Itaewon clubs linked to infections as catering to sexual minorities, which raised concern of discouraging sick people from coming forward in fear of homophobic backlash.

South Korea's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday reported 19 new cases of the coronavirus, but 10 were linked to passengers arriving from abroad.