1 in 4 COVID-19 cases in Seoul confirmed via random testing

One in four new daily COVID-19 cases in Seoul was confirmed through random street testing this week, the city government said Tuesday.

The number of new daily coronavirus infections in the capital rose by 317 on Monday, staying over the 300 mark for the seventh consecutive day.

Of Monday's daily caseload, 78 infections, or 24.6 percent, were confirmed by temporary testing centers that began three weeks of operation throughout the greater Seoul area on Dec. 14.

In a bid to preemptively find "hidden infected people" through random testing, the government has been installing temporary coronavirus testing facilities at about 150 locations in the capital area. Anybody can easily take a coronavirus test at those centers after offering his or her mobile phone number, regardless of symptoms and epidemiological reasons.

The city government said a total of 125,193 random tests has so far been conducted in Seoul alone, and 359 of them, or 0.29 percent, yielded a positive result.

There are now 55 temporary testing centers operating in Seoul, and six more are scheduled to open soon, it added.

In the greater Seoul area which includes Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, meanwhile, an additional 131 people were diagnosed with COVID-19 at the capital area random testing centers Monday, raising the weekly total to 609, officials said.

The 131 new cases, including 36 in Gyeonggi and 17 in Incheon, were confirmed out of 49,753 people tested by the random screening centers, they said. (Yonhap)