[Anchor]
An elementary school student in Incheon's Michuhol District has tested positive for the novel coronavirus.
This has prompted officials to suspend child care services at nearby elementary schools.
The case has sparked concerns over the spread of the virus among students ahead the start of school for lower grades next week.
Ron Chang reports.
[Reporter]
The Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education said the elementary school student tested positive for the virus on Wednesday on the same day as their older sibling, a high school senior that visited a coin-operated singing room in early May.
The office said the elementary school student case wasn't reported as the country zeroed in on high school seniors returning to school after classes had been postponed by more than two months and the fact that two seniors tested positive that day.
As a result, eight elementary schools that provide child care services have shut down, seven of which will reopen on Monday.
The latest confirmed case from Incheon has worried parents and local government officials as lower elementary school grades are scheduled to start classes next Wednesday.
Meanwhile, a total of nine cases have been confirmed in connection to a first birthday party in neighboring Bucheon.
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, six more people that attended the event at the Laon Party House on May 10 tested positive for the virus Friday.
The cases include an infant, her parents and even maternal grandparents.
They are believed to have been infected by a photographer, who is also a taxi driver, who contracted the disease at a coin-operated singing room from the student of an Incheon academy instructor who visited nightlife establishments in Seoul's Itaewon.
KCDC Director Jung Eun-yeong urged those that visited the party hall on May 9, 10 or 17 to get tested for the virus.
<Photo: TBS>
