As of 2 p.m., 104 people, mostly elderly patients with underlying illnesses, have died from the respiratory virus that emerged in China late last year, the KCDC said, adding that 62 virus patients are currently in critical condition.
About 57 percent of the country‘s confirmed cases have been linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus religious sect here.
Of the 152 new cases, 97 are in Daegu and 12 are in North Gyeongsang, the KCDC said. The total number of confirmed cases in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the two epicenters of the virus outbreak here, stood at 6,241 and 1,190, respectively.
Officials in Daegu said 75 new cases have been discovered from a nursing hospital named Hansarang Convalescent Hospital in the city.
The pace of daily new infections has slowed markedly as the KCDC completed extensive testing of 210,000 Shincheonji followers at the center of the rapid spread, but the authorities are still on high alert over new clusters of infections, including at a call center in Seoul‘s Guro district and a new case linked to a church in Seongnam.
About 61 percent of confirmed cases have been linked to a branch of the Shincheonji religious sect in Daegu, which has a population of 2.5 million and is the country‘s fourth-largest city.
The pace of daily new infections has slowed markedly since the second week of this month as health authorities completed extensive testing of 210,000 Shincheonji followers at the center of the rapid spread,
The pace of daily new infections has shown signs of slowing in recent days as health authorities completed extensive testing of 210,000 Shincheonji followers who are at the center of the rapid spread.
But authorities are still on high alert over new clusters of infections, including at a call center in Seoul‘s Guro district and the country‘s government complex in the administrative city of Sejong.
Of the new cases, 62 are in Daegu and six are in North Gyeongsang Province, where Daegu is located, the KCDC said.
Angesichts der weltweiten weiteren Verbreitung stelle eine Einschleppung aus dem Ausland jedoch ein beträchtliches Risiko dar, warnte er.
Auch würden immer wieder vereinzelte Masseninfektionen in Einrichtungen wie Pflegeheimen und Call-Centern gemeldet.
(24.02.2020)
You just can‘t make this shit up
(22.02.2020)
In a statement, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said that of the 229 new cases, 95 were related to Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, which treats the elderly and people with mental health issues. There are now 114 confirmed cases at the hospital – nine staff and 102 patients – it added.
Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said the outbreak had entered „a serious new phase“.
He said most of those diagnosed at the hospital had been inpatients for mental illnesses. Some cases showed „no confirmed epidemiological connections“, meaning it was not clear how they had contracted the virus, he added.
(08.03.2020)
His lonely death in the early hours of Feb. 19 became a matter of urgent public interest when he was posthumously confirmed to have the novel coronavirus, becoming the first killed by the illness in South Korea. Six others who’d been housed alongside him at the psych ward at the private Cheongdo Daenam Hospital in the country’s southeast, all in their 50s and 60s, also died within days. Of 102 patients in the psych ward, 100 had contracted the deadly virus.
Authorities haven’t determined how the virus made its way into the locked ward,
Authorities have been on alert for group transmissions after Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province have been hit by infections traced to the fringe religious sect Shincheonji. More than 60 percent of the country‘s total infections are linked to the religious sect.
More than 1.2 million citizens have called for the secretive church to be disbanded. One province asked the public to report church members to a hotline for coronavirus testing. Smartphone apps help identify the church’s 1,100 once-obscure facilities in South Korea, most already plastered with “off-limits” signs by disease-control officials.
(23.02.2020)
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the country’s coronavirus crisis has entered a “totally different phase since the mass infection at Shincheonji.” Hundreds of thousands signed a petition calling for the church to be dissolved.
Moon called the temporary shutdown of Shincheonji churches across the country “a fair and inevitable step” to protect the community. He said there was “no intention to limit religious freedom.”
Commercial and office spaces on the first to 12th floors of the building, which include a wedding hall and a Starbucks franchise, have been shut down, while the city government is closely monitoring residents who live on the 13th to 19th floors of the building, he said.
The health ministry, meanwhile, said that five of the 207 workers were found to be followers of Shincheonji, which is associated with more than 60 percent of South Korea‘s total infections.
All five have so far tested negative,
Seoul‘s confirmed cases jumped by 52 to 193, with at least 65 cases linked to a call center in Guro Ward and another 14 cases linked to Eunpyeong St. Mary‘s Hospital in Eunpyeong Ward. Another 13 cases in Seoul came from an apartment building in Seongdong Ward.
Incheon‘s cases rose by 12 to 25, with 14 cases linked to the Guro call center. Gyeonggi Province, which surrounds Seoul and Incheon, saw confirmed cases climb by 12 to 175, with 26 cases tied to Shincheonji and 13 cases tied to the Guro call center.
Shincheonji is a South Korean-based megachurch[5] frequently accused of being a secretive cult.[6][7][8][9][10]
The group is apocalyptic[11] and messianic in character,[12] and has been described as a doomsday cult.[12]
According to the local Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), there were 131 new cases as of March 10, compared to 248 and 367 new cases the previous two days, respectively. However, the KCDC does note the decline in Daegu and Gyeongbuk region—where the majority of cases are—is because nearly all members of the Shincheonji church at the center of the outbreak now have been tested.