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A livestock facility in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province, is closed after more than 50 of its employees tested positive for COVID-19. (Yonhap News)

South Korea reported the first case of infection with the South African variant of the COVID-19 virus without a known route of transmission.

The first cluster infection at a school since the start of the semester on March 2 was also reported.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced Monday that an additional 20 cases of patients infected with COVID-19 variants had been confirmed since March 4, bringing the total to date up to 182.

Variants were newly confirmed in five infection clusters, including one at a funeral home in Busan’s Buk (North) District. A variant originating in the UK was found in four of the clusters, while another variant from South Africa was found in three patients diagnosed in connection with a family cluster in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province.

The Gimpo family was unusual in that the variant was not found in the index case first diagnosed in connection with the cluster, raising the possibility that the three patients with the variant may have been infected in the local community.

“We’re pursuing an investigation while leaving open the possibility that [the patients] could have been infected through some other pathway, such as a workplace or gathering where they encountered someone who arrived from overseas or who had the virus variant,” said Park Young-joon, director of the CDCH’s epidemiological research team.

On Sunday, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea rose by 346 as of the end of the day.

As of 8 am Monday, 15 people had been diagnosed in connection with Gwangmun High School in Seoul, following the first case there Friday. Fourteen of them belong to Gwangmun FC, an external football club registered with the Korea Football Association.

While educational authorities have prohibited regular joint boarding during the semester, the rule applies only to school athletic clubs; external clubs exist outside the scope of management.

Thirty-one people affiliated with Gwangmun FC, including 27 students and four instructors, had been boarding together at a small apartment building near the school. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education began an investigation that day into around 50 football clubs affiliated with elementary, middle and high schools in the city.

Fifty employees also tested positive at Dodram LPC, a livestock processing facility in Anseong, Gyeonggi Province. The first two employees tested positive Saturday at the facility.

The city of Anseong and Dodram LPC concluded that the number of infections may have rapidly spread amid a lack of ventilation due to the need to maintain refrigeration at a level of 10-15°C.

By Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporter

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