More than 100 South Korea coronavirus cases linked to fitness class, study finds

The research showed that intense workout classes could be route to spread of virus

A teacher at a high school in in Seoul, South Korea, prepares hand sanitiser for pupils as a precaution against Covid-19 before classes restart. AP

New research in South Korea has shown that fitness classes could be hotspots for the spread of coronavirus.

Scientists found that 112 people were infected with Covid-19 because of a single exercise session that took place in February.

Dozens of fitness instructors took part in a workout in Cheonan, South Korea, that lasted up to four hours, and eight eventually tested positive.

The revelation shows how quickly the virus can spread in small spaces where people are enclosed together. All of those infected cases were identified by March.

"All were asymptomatic on the day of the workshop," the research team at Dankook University Hospital wrote in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases.

“By March 9, we identified 112 Covid-19 cases associated with fitness dance classes in 12 different sports facilities in Cheonan,” they wrote.

South Korea on Sunday reported five new domestic cases of coronavirus, all linked to a cluster of cases centred on bars and nightclubs in the capital, which has raised fears in the country of a new wave of contagion.

After weeks of next to no new domestic coronavirus cases, South Korea relaxed its lockdown on May 6, but a subsequent spike in infections linked to Seoul’s Itaewon nightlife district forced a rapid rethink.

The government has stood by its decision to ease broader restrictions by reopening offices and sports centres, but some nightclubs and bars in the capital were ordered to close again, and authorities have also delayed the planned reopening of schools by a week.

South Korea reported 13 new cases as of midnight on Saturday, bringing the country’s total to 11,050 with 263 deaths.

Of those new cases, five were linked to the outbreak from the nightspots in Seoul, and seven were people with the infection entering South Korea from abroad.