Daegu City "Full-scale Infection Spread Becomes Reality" ... Over 30 Cases Daily for the First Time in 5 Months

29 Sarangui Church Members Test Positive in Retesting
As of Midnight on the 30th, 30 New Cases Raise Daegu's Total Confirmed to 7,043

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Dong-wook] On the 29th, 29 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 related to the congregants of Sarangui Church in Dong-gu, Daegu, to which the pastor confirmed at the Gwanghwamun rally belongs, were reported in a single day. Additionally, one caregiver in her 60s at a hospital in Suseong-gu was newly confirmed.

It is the first time in 152 days since April 1 that more than 30 confirmed cases have occurred in Daegu in one day. The Daegu city government diagnosed the situation as "a scenario where infections originating from the metropolitan area are becoming a reality of spreading extensively into the Daegu region."

According to Daegu city on the 30th, during the epidemiological investigation at Daeryun Middle School, attended by the son who was confirmed positive following his pastor father, four people including students' parents were confirmed positive. All of them are congregants of Sarangui Church. Furthermore, 21 congregants who attended the Gwanghwamun rally tested positive on retesting, differing from their initial negative results. Among the congregants who did not attend the rally, four more were confirmed positive upon additional investigation.

As a result, the total number of confirmed cases among Sarangui Church congregants increased to 34, adding 29 new cases to the existing five. This cluster infection was confirmed after Daegu city secured a list of 103 congregants of Sarangui Church on the 29th and conducted comprehensive diagnostic testing on 98 individuals excluding the five previously confirmed cases.

In summary, out of 103 congregants of Sarangui Church, a total of 34 have been confirmed positive. Among them, 22 were confirmed cases who attended the Gwanghwamun rally, and 12 were confirmed cases among those who did not attend. The 30 newly confirmed cases were all admitted to Daegu Medical Center and Daegu Dongsan Hospital on the night of the 29th.

The confirmed case related to the hospital in Suseong-gu on this day was a female caregiver in her 60s who had contact with a confirmed case on the 27th. Although she initially tested negative in the hospital-wide screening, she was retested and confirmed positive after developing a fever the previous day.

All 401 students and teachers at Daegu Girls' High School, attended by the daughter who was confirmed positive along with her pastor father, were tested and confirmed negative in a comprehensive investigation. Sarangui Church, where the cluster infection occurred, was ordered to suspend gatherings on the 28th and was closed on the 29th.

Earlier, on the night of the 29th at 11:16 PM, Daegu city announced the cluster infection at Sarangui Church and sent an urgent disaster safety alert text message to citizens requesting, "All churches in Daegu on the 30th are prohibited from gathering! All worship services should be switched to non-face-to-face online formats."

Due to this mass cluster infection, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the Daegu area significantly increased to 7,043 as of midnight on the 30th.

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