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Positive Covid-19 test results for K-pop stars Yiren and Sihyeon of girl group Everglow raise fears about an industry-wide cluster

  • Fellow Everglow members, and everyone else who took part in the filming of a television show episode on November 24, are reported to have tested negative
  • The positive test results for Sihyeon and Yiren come after two members of boy band Up10tion were confirmed this week to have Covid-19

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Yiren is one of two members of K-pop girl group Everglow to test positive for Covid-19, after two members of boy band Up10tion were confirmed to have the virus this week. Their cases have raised fears of a Covid-19 cluster in the Korean music industry. Photo: Yuehua Entertainment

Yiren and Sihyeon, two members of K-pop girl group Everglow, have tested positive for Covid-19, raising concerns about a potential industry-wide cluster.

China-born star Yiren reportedly came into contact on November 22 with someone confirmed to have the virus, but only found out later. The girl group recorded an appearance on November 24 for the popular South Korean television show Yoo Hee-yeol’s Sketchbook. All other Everglow members, along with everyone who took part in the filming of the Sketchbook episode, have reportedly tested negative for Covid-19.

The positive results for Sihyeon and Yiren, which reportedly came on December 1, come after two members of boy band Up10tion – Bitto and Kogyeol – were confirmed this week to have Covid-19. That led a multitude of K-pop stars who appeared with them on two weekly music shows to have tests.

While the coronavirus outbreak has been largely controlled in South Korea and the Seoul-based entertainment industry hasn’t slowed down much apart from cancelling live events, music stars coming down with coronavirus is of concern to many and the K-pop industry is rapidly trying to adjust to the situation.
Yiren reportedly came into contact with a confirmed Covid-19 sufferer on November 22, but only found out later. Photo: Yuehua Entertainment
Yiren reportedly came into contact with a confirmed Covid-19 sufferer on November 22, but only found out later. Photo: Yuehua Entertainment
So far, everyone who has been in contact with either Up10tion or Everglow are reported to have tested negative for the coronavirus, including the remaining Up10tion members and the acts NCT, Aespa, BtoB 4U, and Pentagon. However, as both the confirmed infections involved television show recordings, concerns have been raised about the South Korean media as the planned end-of-year show season approaches.
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