S Korean accused of lying to COVID-19 investigators sent to jail

A South Korean man accused of lying to authorities about his job and whereabouts during a coronavirus-tracing investigation has been jailed for six months, Yonhap news agency reported on Thursday. The case is the most high profile yet in the South Korean government’s aggressive efforts to track, trace, and quarantine suspected coronavirus cases. The court in Incheon, just to the west of Seoul, said the 24-year-old man impeded contact tracing by lying in at least 20 instances and “inflicted huge economic and social damage and caused fear among community members,” Yonhap reported. The man was accused of not disclosing that he taught at a school in Incheon after he tested positive for the coronavirus in May, during a significant outbreak which involved several nightclubs and bars in Seoul. Prosecutors, who had asked for a two-year sentence, said infections in at least 80 other people were traced to the man. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">