A fifth BTS member tests positive for COVID-19 before returning to the stage

Another member of the South Korean K-Pop music band BTS, V, has tested positive for covid-19, his agency reported, the fifth member of the group to contract the disease, as he finalizes his return to the live stage in March.

The 26-year-old singer, whose real name is Kim Tae-hyung, visited a hospital to undergo a PCR test after experiencing a mild sore throat and the test returned a positive result for covid, detailed the band’s agency, Big. Hit Music, in a statement published through the Weverse platform.

V had been vaccinated with the two-dose schedule and did not present any serious symptoms, only fever and sore throat.

“He is currently receiving treatment at home while awaiting further guidance from health care authorities,” the agency said.

V met with other members of the band last Saturday, but they were all wearing masks, so they are not considered close contacts.

None of the other members of BTS have shown symptoms of the disease and all have tested negative, Big Hit Music detailed.

V is the fifth of the seven BTS members to contract covid. Suga, RM, and Jin all tested positive last December, followed by Jimin in January. All have since recovered.

South Korea is going through its worst wave of covid since the outbreak of the pandemic, with record levels of daily infections that today exceeded 90,000 cases.

Shortly after reporting V’s contagion, Big Hit Music announced that the group is scheduled to hold their first live concerts in Seoul in approximately two and a half years in March.

BTS has scheduled three concerts at the Jamsil Olympic Stadium on March 10, 12 and 13, the group’s first live performances since their world tour in October 2019.

The first and last concert will be broadcast live online, while the second will be screened live in movie theaters around the world, the agency said. (I)