View of the Wangjing area with the Wangjing SOHO.File Photo:VCG

The COVID-19 cases recently reported in at least three Chinese cities were found to be related to South Korean clothing stores or clothes, raising concerns about the source of infection.   

Beijing's Chaoyang district reported five new positive COVID-19 cases on Monday, all of which were shop assistants and their roommates working at a clothing store specializing in South Korean clothing in the SOHO Complex of Wangjing, home to many South Korean residents.

A coronavirus-positive case with Omicron variant reported in Dalian, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, on April 1 was reportedly a shop assistant dealing with South Korean imported clothing, and the virus was detected in the imported clothing, according to the local health authority.

The possibility of infection due to contact with imported objects contaminated with the novel coronavirus cannot be ruled out, the report said.

On April 2, coronavirus was found in four online-bought South Korean hoodies belonging to a COVID-19 confirmed patient in Changshu, East China's Jiangsu Province, while other environmental nucleic acid test results were negative. Local health authorities confirmed that the case was related to online shopping for South Korean clothing, the local health authority suggested.



Global Times