SEVENTEEN’s Vernon tests positive for COVID-19

MANILA, Philippines – VERNON, member of K-pop group SEVENTEEN (SVT), has been diagnosed with COVID-19 and will not be participating in any promotional activities in the meantime.

SEVENTEEN’s official Twitter account confirmed the news on Friday, February 25, saying that Vernon tested positive on a self-test kit on Thursday, February 24, and then took a PCR test right after. His COVID-19 diagnosis came in Friday morning.

[NOTICE] 세븐틴 버논 코로나19 확진 판정 및 조치 안내

Read: https://t.co/HnYkHFAkfL

— 세븐틴(SEVENTEEN) (@pledis_17) February 25, 2022

Vernon is currently not showing any severe symptoms other than a sore throat, and is treating himself at home.

Vernon came into contact with other SEVENTEEN members like DK and DINO on Tuesday, February 22, as well as S.Coups and Woozi on Wednesday, February 23. However, they “only met for a brief moment while wearing masks and did not come in close contact,” SEVENTEEN’s statement read.

DK, Dino, S.Coups, and Woozi all took rapid antigen tests, which came out negative. Neither of them were exhibiting any symptoms so far.

As Vernon recovers, the K-pop star will not be taking part in SEVENTEEN’s activities for a while until further notice.

“We will continue to provide support for the rapid recovery of Vernon, placing our highest priority on the health and safety of our artists. We will also continue to fully cooperate with the requests and guidelines of healthcare authorities,” SEVENTEEN added.

On February 12, fellow SVT member Wonwoo also tested positive for COVID-19 after experiencing a sore throat and mild fever. He also took a pause from SVT activities. Hoshi, who was the only member to come into contact with Wonwoo before his diagnosis, took a self-test kit and rapid antigen test, which both came out negative.

SEVENTEEN is divided into three units: the hip-hop unit – composed of S.coups, Wonwoo, Mingyu, and Vernon; the vocal unit – composed of Woozi, Jeonghan, Joshua, DK, and Seungkwan; and the performance unit – composed of Hoshi, Jun, The8, and Dino. – Rappler.com