South Korea’s anti-virus quarantine push faces an unexpected obstacle: homophobic sentiments that make it difficult for sexual minorities to come forward and take diagnostic tests. New cases were linked to Seoul nightclubs, reportedly including a gay one.
FILE - In this May 10, 2020, file photo, notices of the Seoul city emergency administrative order to prohibit gathering are posted at the entrance of a temporary closed dance club in Seoul, South Korea. The sign reads: "The Seoul city emergency administrative order to prohibit gathering.
A Christian church-founded newspaper, Kookmin Ilbo, reported last week that the places the man visited in Itaewon on May 2 included a gay club. The report was followed by a flood of anti-gay slurs on social media that included blaming the man and those at the club for endangering the country’s fight against the pandemic.
It’s not even known how big role the man played in the new outbreak, with officials saying that local infections in Itaewon may have already begun before he contracted the illness. Authorities have been trying to track down and test thousands of people who may have come in contact with those infected, a process activist say has been made more difficult now that there is a sexual stigma attached to the new outbreak.
The new cluster threatens South Korea’s hard-won gains in its virus fight, which were the result of aggressive contact tracing and mass testing. The roughly 30 new cases reported daily the past three days are higher than single-digit increases the country had been reporting recently. Still, it is far lower than the hundreds of cases recorded each day in late February and early March.
Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun and several health officials expressed worry that the surge in homophobic sentiment could hurt the virus fight.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
Similar News:Vous pouvez également lire des articles d'actualité similaires à celui-ci que nous avons collectés auprès d'autres sources d'information.
South Korea scrambles to contain new coronavirus outbreak threatening SeoulThe spike in cases comes just as the South Korean government was easing some social distancing restrictions and moving to fully reopen schools and businesses, in a transition from intensive social distancing to 'distancing in daily life.'
Lire la suite »
South Korea scrambles to contain Seoul nightclub coronavirus outbreakSouth Korean officials scrambled on Monday to contain a new coronavirus outbreak, searching for thousands of people who may have been infected in a cluster of cases linked to nightclubs and bars in the densely populated capital city of Seoul.
Lire la suite »
South Korea Records Spike In New Coronavirus Cases After Nightclub OutbreakHealth officials reported 34 new infections on Sunday – the country's highest daily tally in about a month. Most of the new infections were tied to several nightlife businesses in Seoul.
Lire la suite »
New COVID-19 infections in China, South Korea raise alarm over second waveAt least 15 cases of the virus have been confirmed in Shulan, China, while in Seoul, South Korea, 35 new cases were linked to nightclubs.
Lire la suite »
Coronavirus live updates: South Korea warns of second wave of infections; global cases cross 4 millionSouth Korea on Sunday warned of a second wave of cases as a new cluster formed around a number of night clubs, as it eased restrictions last week.
Lire la suite »