Foreign workers in Gangneung get tested for COVID-19 amid a cluster outbreak. (Photo: Yonhap News)
An outbreak of COVID-19 has been reported among more than 40 migrant workers in the eastern coastal city of Gangneung.
The Gangwon provincial government said Tuesday that it began to preemptively test foreign workers in the area after one of them was diagnosed with the coronavirus last Saturday.
Two days later, around six people linked to the first confirmed patient had also tested positive.
Officials fear cases from this cluster could surge as some of the infected migrant workers lived together with others in close quarters.
The provincial government said it is carrying out contract tracing and epidemiological surveys.
Alarmed by the mass infection, Gangneung plans to raise its social distancing rules by one notch to Level 2, the third highest in the South Korea's five-tier COVID-19 alert system.
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