Church holds a press conference on its latest COVID-19 cluster
infection near the church in Seoul on August 17, 2020. – Thousands
of Protestant church members in Seoul have been asked to
quarantine, South Korean authorities said on August 17, as the
country battles virus clusters linked to religious groups. A total
of 315 cases linked to the Sarang Jeil Church had been confirmed so
far, officials said, making it one of the biggest clusters so far,
and around 3,400 members of the congregation had been asked to
quarantine. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
Thousands of members of a Protestant church linked
to a coronavirus cluster in Seoul have been asked to quarantine,
South Korean authorities said Monday, as they accused the group’s
firebrand conservative leader — who has reportedly tested positive
— of obstruction.
The country’s “trace, test and treat” approach has been held up
as a global model in how to curb the virus, but it is now battling
several clusters linked to religious groups.
Over the weekend the capital and neighbouring Gyeonggi province
— between them home to nearly half the population — banned all
religious gatherings and urged residents to avoid unnecessary
travel after a burst of new cases sparked fears of a major second
wave.
South Korea reported 197 new infections on Monday, taking its
total to 15,515, its fourth consecutive day of triple-digit
increases after several weeks with numbers generally in the 30s and
40s.
The largest current cluster is centred on the Sarang Jeil Church
in Seoul, headed by Jun Kwang-hun, a controversial conservative
pastor who is a leading figure in protests against President Moon
Jae-in.
A total of 315 cases linked to the church had been confirmed by
the end of the weekend, officials said Monday, making it one of the
biggest clusters so far, and around 3,400 members of the
congregation had been asked to quarantine.
Around one in six of the church members tested so far had been
positive, “requiring rapid testing and isolation,” said vice health
minister Kim Gang-lip.
But a list of members provided by the church was “inaccurate”,
he said, making the testing and isolation procedure “very
difficult”.
The situation amounted to an “early stage of a large-scale
outbreak”, said Jung Eun-kyeong, director of the Korea Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
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“If the outbreak is not controlled right now, the number of
confirmed cases will increase exponentially, leading to collapse of
the medical system and enormous economic damage,” she said.
– Turbulent priest –
Sarang Jeil’s leader Jun was among the speakers who addressed
thousands of right-wing protestors who rallied against Moon’s
centre-left government in the heart of Seoul at the weekend,
despite the outbreak and calls to avoid large gatherings.
Church holds a press conference on its latest COVID-19 cluster
infection near the church in Seoul on August 17, 2020. – Thousands
of Protestant church members in Seoul have been asked to
quarantine, South Korean authorities said on August 17, as the
country battles virus clusters linked to religious groups. A total
of 315 cases linked to the Sarang Jeil Church had been confirmed so
far, officials said, making it one of the biggest clusters so far,
and around 3,400 members of the congregation had been asked to
quarantine. (Photo by Jung Yeon-je / AFP)
Jun tested positive for the virus, Yonhap News Agency reported
on Monday.
The health and welfare ministry and the Seoul city authorities
have filed two separate police complaints against Jun, accusing him
of deliberately hindering efforts to contain the epidemic.
He previously defied a Seoul rally ban to hold an
anti-government protest in February, at a time the government was
urging everyone to stay at home because of the virus, and was later
detained on allegations of separately violating election laws.
The initial coronavirus outbreak in the South was centred on the
Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which is often condemned as a cult and
was also accused of obstructing investigators.
A lawyer for Sarang Jeil said the church had given authorities
details of members going back 15 years, so many former congregants
would have been included.
“This nationwide fear is a gimmick to arrest Rev. Jun
Kwang-hun,” Kang Yeon-jae told reporters at the church.
The leader of Shincheonji — to which more than 5,000 cases were
linked — Lee Man-hee was arrested earlier this month for allegedly
giving inaccurate records of church gatherings and false lists of
its members to health authorities.
AFP