Five of 79 Confirmed COVID-19 Cases at Eunpyeong-gu Bible Study Meeting Attended by Seoul City Hall Officials

On the 20th, employees are arriving at the new Seoul City Hall building. After a confirmed case of COVID-19 was reported among city hall staff the previous day, Seoul City Hall closed the entire new building and carried out disinfection work. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] A Seoul City Hall official who tested positive for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) was confirmed to have attended a Bible study meeting held in Eunpyeong-gu before the diagnosis.

According to Seoul City on the 22nd, the meeting the employee attended was held in the form of a Bible study seminar at the Team Vision Center in Bulgwang-dong, Eunpyeong-gu, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the 15th.

Among the 79 total attendees, five people, including the Seoul City official, were confirmed positive cumulatively. However, the initial infection route has not yet been identified.

The 15th, when this meeting was held, was the first day of the holiday, during which the government repeatedly urged and warned to refrain from religious events and gatherings to prevent the spread of infection.

Park Yu-mi, the quarantine controller of the Seoul Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said, "We have prepared measures to strengthen official guidelines to strictly enforce social distancing level 2, prohibit movement to other cities or provinces, and ban business trips outside the metropolitan area," adding, "Officials who violate these rules will be severely disciplined."

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