COVID-19 Cases from Shincheonji Likely to Surpass 10,000

1299 Cases in Daegu Alone... 9000 Suspected Symptomatic Cases Reported in Full Survey of All Church Members

Shincheonji Jesus Church Daegu Branch
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporters Choi Dae-yeol and Kim Heung-soon] As the worst-case scenario that the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) related to Shincheonji Church of Jesus could exceed 10,000 has been raised, anxiety is growing. In Daegu Metropolitan City, where more than 1,200 confirmed cases have occurred in the past three days, quarantine authorities have additionally identified about 9,000 Shincheonji members who reported suspected symptoms. The quarantine authorities forecast that the next one to two weeks will be a turning point for the spread of COVID-19 in Korea depending on the occurrence of additional confirmed cases among Shincheonji members.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19 on the 2nd, as a result of a full survey conducted by the government and local governments targeting approximately 239,000 Shincheonji believers and trainees in Korea, 8,946 people (8,563 believers and 383 trainees) responded that they had suspected symptoms of COVID-19 such as cough and fever. There are also more than 4,000 members whose whereabouts are unknown and who could not be surveyed. Including these, the number of symptomatic individuals is expected to exceed 10,000.

Local governments have started diagnostic testing for symptomatic individuals simultaneously with the full survey. Among about 9,000 symptomatic individuals, Shincheonji Daegu Church members, where a cluster infection of COVID-19 occurred, were excluded. For symptomatic individuals related to Shincheonji Daegu Church, a full survey and diagnostic testing were conducted first starting from the 26th of last month.

According to Daegu City, 1,299 Shincheonji Daegu Church members reported having COVID-19 symptoms, and most of them are believed to have been confirmed positive. As of the 27th of last month, there were 622 patients related to Shincheonji Daegu Church in Daegu City, but as of the 1st of this month, the number increased by 1,255 to 1,877.

Considering this positive rate, it is highly likely that the majority of Shincheonji members nationwide classified as symptomatic will also be confirmed positive. Reflecting this in the cumulative count, the current number of Shincheonji-related patients nationwide, which is 2,113, will far exceed 10,000.

Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Director of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, said, "Since the worship of Shincheonji believers was blocked after February 16, considering the maximum incubation period of 14 days, early March is seen as an important time point for (additional spread of COVID-19)." He added, "We plan to conduct investigations on these believers, keeping in mind the possibility that the virus has spread not only within the Shincheonji group but also to other small groups or the local community."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.