South Korean officials tracking transmission routes of coronavirus patients have found a potential link in some cases reported in different cities: fitness dance Zumba.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday, some 90 percent of 92 total cases in Cheonan and Asan, both in South Chungcheong Province, are connected by Zumba. The patients were either instructors, practitioners, their family members or close contacts.

“It is still early to confirm, but a workshop of Zumba instructors held last month may be behind all those cases,” said a KCDC official.

According to the official, the workshop was held in Cheonan on Jan. 15 and attended by 29 instructors from all over the country, including three from Daegu, Korea’s epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.

So far, six participants -- three in Cheonan, two in Asan and one in Sejong -- have tested positive and 11 have tested negative. Test results for the rest were not available as of press time.

The first Zumba-related case was reported in Cheonan on Jan. 25, 10 days after the workshop.

(khnews@heraldcorp.com)