K-Pop Covid Scare Continues: TWICE Members Tested; IZ*ONE, Big Hit Cancels Events
On December 7th, MNH Entertainment released a statement confirming that Chungha has contracted the coronavirus disease after close contact with a positive case. This fueled further the existing Covid-19 scare among K-pop stars.
Later on the same day, JYP Entertainment has also announced that members of their girl group, TWICE, is undergoing testing as member Sana had been in contact with Chungha. Furthermore, JYP also announced that all staff members who had come into contact with Sana had also undergone testing for the virus.
"Twice's Sana, who came in contact recently with Chungha, as well as other members of Twice who worked with Sana and the staff, were tested this afternoon as a precautionary measure," announced JYP Entertainment on Monday, December 7th.
Meanwhile, a fear of an outbreak among K-Pop idols sparked as TWICE did a recording for their Mnet Asian Music Awards (MAMA) 2020 performance on Saturday and attended Sunday night's MAMA awarding. Because of this, Mnet has notified the agencies of all the artists who had contact with TWICE members.
The girl group IZ*ONE was the first MAMA attendee who announced that all members would be undergoing testing. They have also canceled all their scheduled events relating to their newest release with "Panorama."
On the other hand, Big Hit Entertainment has also announced that they will cancel the live event for their scheduled "New Year's Eve Concert," where their artists such as BTS, GFriend, Tomorrow X Together, Nu'Est, ENHYPEN, and other artists are set to perform.
Last week, Bitto and Kogyeol from UP10TION, as well as Sihyeon and Yiren from EVERGLOW, tested positive for coronavirus disease.
South Korea is now facing a third wave of coronavirus infections. Health authorities have implemented toughened antivirus measures to curb the infection. On Sunday, the government raised the social distancing regulations to 2.5 in the greater Seoul area.