LOONA's agency - Blockberry Creative - has officially announced that the girl group would not be participating in the filming for the first round of Mnet's upcoming competition show "Queendom 2".
This is due to three of the members - Haseul, Yeojin, and ViVi - testing positive to the coronavirus.
Blockberry Creative released the following full statement explaining the situation:
Hello, this is Blockberry Creative.
We are informing you that LOONA members Haseul, Yeojin, and ViVi have been diagnosed with COVID-19.
On February 25, LOONA used self-test kits before participating in a scheduled activity, and a few of the members’ results were positive. They therefore went to the hospital, and in keeping with the hospital’s instructions, they underwent rapid antigen tests and PCR tests. On February 26, Haseul, Yeojin, and ViVi’s test results came back positive.
Yeojin has previously received three doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while Haseul and ViVi have each received two doses of the vaccine. At the moment, the three members have halted all activities, and they are resting while taking all necessary measures in accordance with the guidelines of government health authorities.
The remaining members [of LOONA] underwent rapid antigen tests on February 25 as a precautionary measure, and they all tested negative. However, in consideration of [the virus’s] incubation period, they used self-test kits once a day. On February 27, several of the members’ results were positive, so they underwent both rapid antigen tests and PCR tests, and we are still awaiting their results. We will make another announcement regarding their test results in the future..
Accordingly, LOONA will not be participating in the Round 1 competition performances of Mnet’s “Queendom 2” that were scheduled to take place today (February 28), and we ask for your understanding.
We apologize for giving both the fans and those involved [with “Queendom 2”] cause for concern, and we will do our utmost to ensure the health and safety of our artists.
Thank you.
"Queendom 2" is set to premiere at 9:20 p.m. KST on 31 March.
How do you feel about LOONA needing to sit out on the first round of "Queendom 2"? Let us know by commenting on our socials @KpopWise.