Confirmed COVID-19 Cases Related to Worship and Small Group Meetings at Jeju Seongan Church... Concerns Over Further Infections

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters (Jeju) Reporter Park Chang-won] It has been confirmed that confirmed cases No. 90 and 92 in Jeju attended worship services and small group meetings at Jeju Seongan Church located in Jeju City.

Jeju Special Self-Governing Province conducted an epidemiological investigation on cases No. 90 and 92, who were confirmed positive on the 8th and 9th respectively, and upon identifying church-related schedules, announced the findings of the on-site investigation by 3 p.m. that day.

Case No. 90 was identified as a member of Seongan Church and an employee of a partner company of Korea Midland Power Jeju Power Headquarters.

Case No. 92, a family member of No. 90, was confirmed to be serving as a pastor at Jeju Seongan Church.

Only case No. 92 attended the Sunday worship service held from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. on the 6th.

They were also found to have attended three meetings held in the basement of the church on the 5th and 6th.

The provincial quarantine authorities stated, “Approximately 380 church members, about 19% of the total congregation (2,000 members), attended the Sunday worship service at Seongan Church that day. According to CCTV footage, while No. 92 was delivering the sermon, there was no physical proximity or interaction with other attendees, so it is presumed that infection related to the worship service is minimal.”

Additionally, the on-site investigation confirmed that the church had unified its entrance and exit points, implemented electronic temperature checks and electronic QR codes for all entrants, and that all church members and pastors, including the confirmed cases, wore masks. The Wednesday worship service scheduled for 10 a.m. that day was suspended, and identification of all attendees of the dawn service, Wednesday service, and Sunday service was completed.

The church building is currently closed, all services have been moved online, and meals and small group meetings are prohibited.

Jeju Province is conducting disinfection of the Korea Midland Power Jeju Power Headquarters and Seongan Church, which have been confirmed as places visited by the cases, and is carrying out COVID-19 diagnostic tests on about 70 contacts identified as of 3 p.m. that day by securing on-site CCTV footage and visitor logs.

Since case No. 92 was active as a pastor, the province is also considering installing a walk-through testing site to expedite testing of the church’s pastors and contacts.

The provincial quarantine authorities are focusing on obtaining statements to trace their movement routes and are investigating detailed routes through analysis of credit card usage records and on-site CCTV footage.

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