Thousands of members of a Protestant church in Seoul have been placed in quarantine, South Korean authorities announced on Monday (August 17th) after the appearance of outbreaks of Covid-19 contamination linked to religious communities.
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So far, South Korea has managed to bring the coronavirus epidemic under control through a very extensive strategy of testing and tracing the contacts of those infected, without even imposing mandatory containment. Over the weekend, Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi province, nearly half of South Korea's population, tightened restrictions and banned religious gatherings after new cases emerged, raising fears of a second wave of the epidemic.
The country reported on Monday 197 new cases of Covid-19 contamination, bringing the national toll since the start of the epidemic in February to 15,515 people carrying the virus. This is the fourth day in a row where the number of contaminations has exceeded a hundred, after several weeks where the figures fluctuated between thirty and forty.
The biggest hotbed of infections is at Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul, led by a controversial conservative pastor who is also a leading figure in protests against South Korean President Moon Jae-in. A total of 315 cases linked to the church have been recorded so far, authorities said on Monday, and around 3,400 members of this congregation have been placed in quarantine.
1 in 6 devotees contaminated
About one in six worshipers has tested positive for the coronavirus, Deputy Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said. A list of members provided by the church has been found to be " inaccurate, " he said, making screening and isolation " very difficult ."
The Shincheonji Church of Jesus, linked to some 5,000 cases, had been at the center of the February outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic in the country. Its leader, Lee Man-hee, 88, is believed to have obstructed government policy to fight the virus.
Sarang Jeil Church leader Jun Kwang-hun was one of the speakers this weekend addressing thousands of protesters rallying against Mr. Moon's center-left government, despite calls to avoid large gatherings due to coronavirus.
The health ministry and Seoul authorities have filed two separate complaints against Mr. Jun, accusing him of deliberately hampering efforts to deal with the epidemic.
