SEOUL - A chain of coronavirus infections traced to Seoul's clubbing district Itaewon has grown to seven levels, causing uneasiness among parents as over two million students go back to the classroom on Wednesday (May 27) in the second phase of school reopening.
The number of cases in the cluster has increased to 255 as of noon on Tuesday, including 127 in Seoul and 45 in Incheon.
The total tally stands at 11,225, with 269 deaths.
Even with mass testing and aggressive contact tracing, health authorities have not been able to stop the spread of the virus that keeps claiming more victims, including 19 reported on Tuesday.
E-commerce giant Coupang - the equivalent of Amazon in South Korea - closed its logistics centre in Bucheon, west of Seoul, after 11 cases were found to be linked to the facility on Tuesday, including nine employees.
Reports said the infections are traced back to a 25-year-old male teacher from Incheon city who visited a club in Itaewon over a long weekend earlier this month.
As of Tuesday, the infection chain related to him have grown to seven levels, involving 91 cases.
He first spread the virus to his students in Incheon, who in turn brought the virus to a coin karaoke room. A cab driver who went singing there transmitted the virus to a birthday party in a buffet restaurant in Bucheon, where it spread among attendees.
The virus was then carried to two other restaurants by diners, one of whom further infected a family member - the seventh in the chain.
Mr Kwon Joon-wook, deputy-general of the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), voiced concern on Tuesday over the growth in infection figures, noting that "one person can trigger many transmissions".
"We're doing our best to track the virus and it is important to grasp the scale of the infection, but there are considerable difficulties now that it's advanced beyond the fourth and fifth levels," he added.
Mr Kwon also stressed the importance of cooperation with epidemiological investigations, in a reference to criticism that the Incheon teacher had hindered the government's contact tracing efforts by initially lying he was unemployed.
More than 83,000 people have already been tested in relation to the Itaewon cluster, which emerged on the day stringent social distancing measures were eased on May 6.
The government is now pushing for a return to normal life with "everyday life quarantine" that includes rules such as wearing masks and frequent hand washing.
Some 450,000 high school seniors returned to the classroom last week in the first phase of school reopening, and the second phase begins on Wednesday with 2.37 million students, including kindergarteners and elementary school pupils.
Many parents have voiced concern over sending young children back to school, questioning if schools are prepared to prevent a possible outbreak.
An elementary school in Seoul delayed its reopening after one of its students tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday. Another elementary school in Bucheon also postponed its reopening after a 58-year-old teacher tested positive.
To ease parents' concerns, President Moon Jae-in said the government will "make every effort" to ensure safety in schools.
"The government is fully aware of the worries of parents and we're all on the same page when it comes to protecting our children," he said.
