K-pop boy band The Boyz member Eric has tested positive for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) amid a surge in daily cases in South Korea.
Eric, 21, is the latest K-pop idol to catch COVID-19 as South Korea recorded 8,571 new cases on Jan. 25, the highest daily tally since January 2020 when the country recorded its first case.
IST Entertainment, The Boyz’s agency, announced that Eric tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 24, a day after he attended and performed at the 31st High1 Seoul Music Awards (SMA). The Boyz won a “bonsang” (main prize) at the awards show.
“We would like to inform you that our artist, Eric of The Boyz, has been diagnosed with COVID-19,” said the agency.
Eric is fully vaccinated and received his booster short, or third dose, of the COVID-19 vaccine. The agency said on Jan. 20, Eric got call and was informed that an acquaintance of a friend he had dinner with was confirmed to have COVID-19.
He took the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test on Jan. 21 and tested negative for COVID-19.
After he tested negative on Jan. 21, he had no symptoms and underwent quarantine on the same day.
Eric tested negative using a self-test kit on Jan. 22 and joined The Boyz’s schedule. The Boyz were to film a reality show on Jan. 24 so Eric took another PCR on Jan. 23 and was confirmed to be positive for the virus on the morning of Jan. 24.
As a result, other members of The Boyz and staff got tested and they are currently awaiting results.
The agency notified the organizers of the SMA about Eric’s positive diagnosis, according to Korean media.
Several K-pop artists have been diagnosed with COVID-19 in the past seven days. On Jan. 24, K-pop boy band WINNER’s Lee Seunghoon tested positive while iKON’s Kim Jinhwan, Song Yunheong and Kim Donghyuk of iKON contracted COVID-19 on Jan. 23.
Super Junior’s Eunhyuk was confirmed to have COVID-19 on Jan. 20 while EPEX’s A-Min, Wish and Jeff tested positive on Jan. 19.