
At least 85 coronavirus patients in South Korea are believed to have contracted the virus in nightclubs in recent weeks, prompting authorities to order the businesses shuttered.
On Saturday, all nightclubs and bars in Seoul were ordered to close until further notice after a spike in cases linked to venues in the capital prompted concerns of a second wave of infections.
Thirty-five new cases were detected in the country on Sunday, according to the South Korean health ministry. Of the new cases, all 29 locally transmitted infections were related to clubs in Itaewon, a popular nightlife district in Seoul.
Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon said that the next two to three days will be "critical," and called upon those who had visited the nightclubs to get tested.
"If Seoul falls, the country falls," he said. "One moment of letting the guard down can lead to an explosion of infections."
The city collected the names of 5,517 people who visited the relevant nightclubs between April 24 and May 6 and has since reached more than 2,000 of them, the health ministry said. At least 3,000 others who could not be reached will be tracked down with the help of credit card records and police cooperation.
As of Monday, South Korea has reported 10,909 Covid-19 cases, 9,632 of which had recovered. The death toll remains at 256.