Red Velvet members test positive for Covid-19; 2 more members of Seventeen recover

Three members of K-pop girl group Red Velvet have been diagnosed with Covid-19 while two more members of boy band Seventeen have fully recovered.

SM Entertainment announced on March 14 that Red Velvet members Irene, Joy and Yeri tested positive for Covid-19 over the weekend.

The agency said three K-pop idols initially tested positive using a Covid-19 self-test kit and underwent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, which confirmed that they have the virus over the weekend.

Irene, Joy and Yeri are fully vaccinated and are currently getting treated at home without any symptoms. Seulgi and Wendy, two other members of Red Velvet, tested negative.

As a result, Red Velvet's Special Live “2022 The ReVe Festival: Prologue” scheduled on March 19-20 has been postponed. Tickets will be refunded in full and the performance will be decided after reviewing the artist's health and Covid-19 situation.

But the release of Red Velvet's new mini-album 'The ReVe Festival 2022-Feel My Rhythm' will be released as scheduled on March 21.

On the other hand, Seventeen members Joshua and Jun “have made full recoveries from COVID-19 and their quarantine has concluded as of today [March 14,” according to Pledis Entertainment.

“Joshua and Jun have been administering self-treatment at home as per health authority guidelines and have not shown any extraordinary symptoms. As their quarantine has concluded, they can resume their activities starting from today,” it added.

Joshua and Jun both tested positive for Covid-19 last March 8 and have recovered in seven days based on the isolation period imposed by health authorities.

From Feb. 12 and to March 8, nine members of Seventeen were diagnosed with Covid-19. They were Wonwoo, Vernon, Hoshi, S.Coups, DK, Seungkwan, The 8, Joshua and Jun.

With Joshua and Jun’s recovery, all the nine members are now Covid-19 free.

South Korea has been battling a surge in Covid-19 cases due to the highly contagious Omicron variant. On March 14, 309,790 new Covid-19 cases were recorded to bring the total confirmed cases in South Korea to 6.86 million.

More than 200 Korean celebrities, mostly K-pop idols, have tested positive for Covid-19 since Jan. 19. Recent infections include TXT's Soobin and Brave Girls' Minyoung, and The Boyz's New.