For families in Daegu, the numbers now have names. South Korea’s confirmed coronavirus cases jumped to 833 on Monday after a single-day surge in new infections, and the steepest climb is concentrated in one city and one church.
More than 140 of the new cases were in and around Daegu, a city of 2.5 million people in the country’s southeast. Five of the seven deaths so far were tied to a hospital in Cheongdo, just outside the city, where the virus spread through a psychiatric ward.
The human thread runs through the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a secretive sect whose members sit and kneel close together during services. A woman in her 60s attended two gatherings before testing positive, and health officials said 129 of the country’s 161 newly recorded cases one day were linked to the church. Authorities are now tracing and testing roughly 9,000 followers, alongside about 28,000 residents showing cold-like symptoms.
“if we fail to effectively stem community transmissions in this area, there would be a large possibility (that the illness) spreads nationwide,” Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told reporters, adding that the government aims to stabilize Daegu within four weeks.
The concern, for families beyond Korea, is that the outbreak is no longer confined to China. China reported 409 new cases and 150 more deaths on Monday, raising its totals to 77,150 infections and 2,592 dead, all but one of those deaths in Hubei province. Italy counted 152 cases, the most outside Asia, and Iran reported eight deaths.
South Korea’s total now ranks third in the world, behind only China and Japan. For the people of Daegu, the math is simple: the faster the cluster is found, the fewer families will face it next.
Sources
- South Korean virus infections jump to 833, China counts 150 more deaths – The Mainichi
- Coronavirus: Why did infections shoot up in South Korea?
