Agencies Scramble to Test Their Artists After UP10TION's BittoIs Revealed To Have Covid-19

Artists from different agencies have been getting tested left and right after news that an idol member tested positive for COVID-19. The said idol is Bitto from UP10TION. 

Bitto's agency, TOP Media, quickly gave an official statement. Apparently, Bitto came into close contact with someone who tested positive. When this was confirmed, he was tested and the results came out on November 30th. Everyone else he came into contact with, including staff from the agency is now being tested. Their upcoming schedules have also been canceled. 

What got many agencies scrambling in concern is the recent promotion UP10TION has been doing on music shows , including "The Show" which will cancel their December 1st broadcast, "Music Core", and "Inkigayo". The mentioned shows have said that they are now reviewing their CCTV to check who had contact with Bitto and company. 

A few other agencies have already said that they are going to test their artists, including NCT, aespa, AKMU, TREASURE, and BTOB 4u. The emcees of the said programs are also going to be tested. Some of them have also postponed activities, such as Stray Kids' video call event. 

South Korea, hailed by many as one of the countries that have successfully curbed the rise of the pandemic, has seen a surge in cases lately. Whereas they have been reporting less than 100 cases daily in the past, these past few days more than 500 cases have been reported daily. 

The surge of positive cases has led to more stringent measures. In the entertainment world, more and more people have become affected. Artists like Nancy from Momoland had to take a test, which later turned out to be negative after she visited the same places that person with a positive case was found to have gone. 

Some productions also had to be halted after some staff and cast tested positive or had close contact with someone who did.