Church Visited by Incheon Confirmed Cases, All Negative Except 5 'Under Testing' (Update)

Amid the occurrence of 8 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) linked to the "Seoul Itaewon club" in the Incheon area, students of Seum Academy and members of Palbok Church are waiting to undergo diagnostic tests at a screening clinic set up at Michuhol District Office in Incheon on the 13th. The 8 individuals who tested positive on this day were confirmed as contacts of Mr. A, an instructor at Seum Academy located in Michuhol District, who was diagnosed positive on the 9th after visiting Seoul Itaewon clubs on the 2nd and 3rd of this month. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] As a result of comprehensive testing of a church visited by students infected by a private academy instructor who had been to Itaewon clubs in Incheon, all but five tested negative.

Kim Kang-rip, the 1st General Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH), said at a regular briefing held at the Government Sejong Complex that "Comprehensive diagnostic tests were conducted on 740 church members from two churches where two confirmed cases attended worship services, and except for five awaiting test results, all tested negative."

The government attributed the absence of additional infections at the churches to strict adherence to quarantine rules such as mandatory mask-wearing and designated seating systems.

Coordinator Kim said, "Among 1,000 church members, about 300 participated in worship online, and to prevent infection through contact, glove-wearing was also made mandatory. The churches implemented self-initiated quarantine measures tailored to their facility characteristics," adding, "If social distancing is well practiced according to each facility, secondary and tertiary infections caused by group infections can be effectively blocked."

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