South Korea Quarantines 2 Apartments In Daegu, Most Residents Are Shincheonji Church Members

In a bizarre development to South Korea’s growing Covid-19 crisis, 2 apartment buildings in Daegu city have been quarantined.

This comes after 46 out of some 140 of its residents tested positive for the new coronavirus. As of Saturday (7 Mar), the country’s total confirmed cases hit 7,041 with 448 new infections.

According to Channel NewsAsia (CNA), this is the first residential community to be locked down due to the outbreak.

South Korea locks down 2 apartments housing mostly Shincheonji members

CNA reports that most of the residents living in the 2 apartment buildings in Daegu are Shincheonji Church of Jesus members.

The church, heavily accused of being a cult, is the epicentre of South Korea’s distressing outbreak.

Mayor of Daegu Kwon Young-jin immediately placed the 2 apartments under lockdown after 46 residents tested positive for Covid-19.

Of the 140 people living in the buildings, 94 of them are Shincheonji churchgoers.

Daegu has over 5,000 Covid-19 cases

To date, Daegu has reported over 5,000 confirmed cases.

If you’ve missed out on earlier news, the outbreak traced back to a 61-year-old woman, who attended services at Shincheonji even after she developed symptoms on 10 Feb.

Authorities are now conducting contact tracing and investigating over 260,000 people linked to the religious sect.

Mr Kwon is urging Shincheonji members to come forward to be tested after more than 30% of the church’s 709 members were confirmed with Covid-19.

He said coming forward for tests is an important step to prevent further infections in the Daegu community.

Worrying news amid the outbreak

It is worrying to see South Korea continuously battling with Covid-19 as more cases are confirmed every day.

Now that they are the country with the highest number of infections outside China, it’s not entirely illogical that their residents are plagued by panic-buying and enormous queues for masks in hopes of gaining protection against Covid-19.

Hopefully, more of them will listen to the authorities and come forward for tests. This would undoubtedly help in efforts to curb the spread.

Here’s to South Korea — may they rise from this mountainous ordeal and overcome the outbreak ASAP.

Featured image adapted from AFP via New Straits Times.