Even South Korea, so far relatively spared by the epidemic of coronavirus, is facing a renewed contamination. Thousands of members of a protestant church in Seoul have been placed in quarantine, announced on Monday, the south Korean authorities after an outbreak of contamination at the Covid-19 related to religious communities.
Until now, South Korea has managed to control the outbreak of coronavirus through a strategy very thorough testing and tracing of contacts of infected people, without even impose containment required. This weekend, Seoul and the Gyeonggi province that surrounds it, which is almost half of the population of south korea, have tightened the restrictions and prohibited religious gatherings after the appearance of new cases, raising fears of a second wave of the epidemic.
The country was state, Monday, 197 new cases of contamination Covid-19, with the national balance sheet since the beginning of the epidemic in February to 15 515 people living with the virus. This is the fourth consecutive day where the number of infections has exceeded the hundred, after several weeks where the numbers fluctuaient between thirty and forty.
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A list of the members "inaccurate"
The greatest focus of infection is located within the church Sarang Jeil, Seoul, led by a pastor conservative controversialist who is also a figurehead of the protests against the south Korean president Moon Jae-in. A total of 315 cases related to this church have been recorded so far, said on Monday the authorities, and about 3 400 members of this congregation have been placed in quarantine.
About a true six has been tested positive for coronavirus, said vice-minister of Health, Kim Gang-lip. A list of members provided by the church proved to be " inaccurate ", he said, making the screening and the solitary confinement to be " very difficult ".
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Two complaints filed
The Church of Shincheonji of Jesus, linked to around 5,000 cases, had been at the centre of the eruption in February of the outbreak of coronavirus in the country. Its leader, Lee Man-hee, aged 88, is believed to have hindered the government's policy of combating the virus.
The leader of the church Sarang Jeil, Jun Kwang-hun, was this weekend one of the speakers who addressed thousands of protesters against the government of the centre-left Moon Jae-in, despite the calls to avoid all large gatherings due to coronavirus. The ministry of Health and the authorities in Seoul have filed two complaints separated against Jun Kwang-hun, accusing him of hindering a deliberate effort to combat the epidemic.
