Gyeongbuk's 'New Confirmed Cases' Drop to 14... But Gumi Guun Church Shows Signs of 'Group Infection'

18 Cases in Three Days at Guun Church... Over 75% of Gumi Cases Linked to Church
Cumulative Confirmed Cases in Gyeongbuk Region Reach 2,440 as of Midnight on the 3rd

On the afternoon of the 2nd, medical staff at the temporary COVID-19 screening clinic set up in Seoul Station Plaza collected a COVID-19 specimen from a police officer at a nearby police box.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Dong-wook] Relay-type church-originated chain infections of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue in Gumi.

Fortunately, in the Guryongpo area of Pohang, no secondary infections have been confirmed for two consecutive days, causing the number of new confirmed cases in North Gyeongsang Province to drop to the teens. This is the first time in half a month since the 16th of last month (9 cases) that the number has fallen to the teens.

According to North Gyeongsang Province on the 3rd, as of midnight, the cumulative number of confirmed cases in the region was 2,440 (118 imported cases), an increase of 14 from the previous day.

New confirmed cases by region include 9 in Gumi, and one each in five other locations: Pohang, Gimcheon, Andong, Gyeongsan, and Chilgok.

Among the 9 new confirmed cases in Gumi, 8 are contacts of confirmed cases related to Gumi Guun Church. The number of confirmed cases related to this church increased to 18, with 2 on the 31st, 6 on New Year's Day, and one each on the 2nd in Gimcheon and Chilgok.

In Gumi, among the 108 confirmed cases that occurred over the last ten days of the year-end (until midnight on the 31st), 81 cases (75%) are related to churches centered around Songjeong Church, highlighting the church-originated chain infection phenomenon.

The one new confirmed case in Pohang has an unknown infection route, while the new confirmed cases in Gimcheon and Chilgok (one each) are contacts of a confirmed case related to Gumi Guun Church (Gumi case number 240).

The new confirmed cases in Andong and Gyeongsan (one each) are contacts of previously confirmed cases (Andong case number 87, Ulsan case number 651).

In North Gyeongsang Province, 171 residents (excluding imported cases) have been confirmed positive over the past week, resulting in a weekly daily average of 24.4 confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, in North Gyeongsang, the daily number of confirmed cases peaked at 122 on March 6, then dropped to 31 on March 8. However, after showing 31 cases again on December 17, the daily confirmed cases surged to 59 on the 21st and 67 on the 24th.

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