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Reuters

Agence France-Presse

The number of coronavirus cases in South Korea rose to 46 on Wednesday, after 15 new cases were reported, including a cluster seen in a church in the southeastern city of Daegu.
Of the new cases, 13 were in Daegu and the neighbouring North Gyeongsang province, said the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), and eleven were believed to be linked to a single patient, a 61-year-old woman.
Ten of them attend the same church as the woman, who was the 31st case, the KCDC said.
The 61-year-old woman had first developed a fever on February 10 but reportedly refused to be tested for the coronavirus on the grounds that she had not recently travelled abroad.
Coronavirus: South Korea on lookout for infected patients who do not show symptoms
She was not put into quarantine until a week later and was confirmed as South Korea’s 31st case on Tuesday.
The woman and the 10 others attend the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which has issued a notice to followers across the country to stop gathering and attend prayer sessions online.
The news that Case 31 and a few others diagnosed with the Covid-19 disease had neither travelled abroad nor come into contact other infected patients has fuelled concerns of the rise of community transmissions in South Korea.
"We keep the possibility open that the virus has passed through the quarantine nets to start community transmissions,” Noh Hong-in, a senior government official in charge of fighting the virus, told journalists.


Daegu City Mayor Kwon Young-jin urged residents to put on protective face masks, wash their hands and stay away from public gatherings until the disease eased off.
The number of people in South Korea being assessed for the Covid-19 disease and under quarantine came to 1,030 as of early Wednesday, up from 818 the day, the KCDC said.
Twelve people have recovered and were discharged from hospital.

The new cases came as seven people were on Wednesday morning brought back to South Korea from the coronavirus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.
A presidential jet landed at Gimpo airport in Seoul with six Korean nationals and a Japanese spouse, who were then taken to a medical facility in Incheon to be quarantined.
Health authorities had said there were 14 South Koreans, five of whom were crew members, on the Diamond Princess, including those who arrived on Wednesday’s flight.
Elderly guests to leave first as Diamond Princess quarantine ends
South Korea last week sent a third chartered flight to evacuate South Koreans and their Chinese family members from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the epidemic.
Seoul has blocked entry to foreigners coming from Hubei, the Chinese province that is the epicentre of the outbreak, and suspended visa-free entry to the island of Jeju, popular with Chinese tourists, but has not imposed a general ban on arrivals from mainland China.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said there are no indications that there are cases of the new coronavirus in North Korea, despite South Korean media reports suggesting the outbreak had spread to the isolated country.
“At the moment there are no signals, there are no indications we are dealing with any Covid-19 there,” Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s emergencies programme, told a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
Kim makes first public appearance in 22 days amid coronavirus outbreak
WHO officials had “no reason to believe that there are any specific issues” going on in North Korea, and would be providing authorities in the North with more laboratory supplies to conduct diagnostic tests, Ryan said.
Some media outlets in the South have reported multiple cases and possible deaths from the virus in North Korea, but there has been no independent verification.

On Tuesday, Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling party, quoted a public health official reiterating the country had “no confirmed case of the new coronavirus so far”.
An outbreak of the disease could be devastating for the under-resourced health system in North Korea, experts said.
Coronavirus: shut Chinese border deals blow to North Korean economy
Last week the US State Department said it was “deeply concerned” about the possible impact of a coronavirus outbreak in North Korea and was prepared to facilitate efforts by US and international organisations contain the spread of the virus there.
Aid organisations have called for exemptions from sanctions that restrict most trade and business with North Korea.
Already one of the most closed-off countries in the world, North Korea has stopped flights and train services with its neighbours, established month-long mandatory quarantines, suspended international tourism, and imposed a near-complete lockdown on cross-border travel.
Coronavirus: North Korea ramps up surgical mask output
The WHO has prioritised aid for North Korea, and a shipment of protective equipment and supplies was due to be shipped there this week, Ryan said.
“The government is very anxious as you can imagine, as all governments are, to make preparations and are seeking our technical and operational assistance to help them get ready,” he said.
Additional reporting by Park Chan-kyong


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Coronavirus South Korea

Coronavirus: South Korean church cluster in Daegu brings total number of cases to 46

A bus carrying seven people evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan enters a quarantine centre in Incheon, South Korea on February 19, 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

This picture taken on February 16, 2020 and released by North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) via KNS on February 17, 2020 shows people standing in front of statues of late North Korean leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il at the Grand Monument on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang to celebrate the 78th anniversary of Kim Jong Il. - The anniversaries of the births and deaths of the two elder Kims are major holidays on the North Korean calendar, with February 16 celebrated as the Day of the Shining Star. (Photo by STR / KCNA VIA KNS / AFP) / - South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. /

18 February 2020, South Korea, Gwangju: Quarantine officials disinfect a dormitory for Chinese students at Chosun University in Gwangju, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus. Photo: -/YNA/dpa

Coronavirus: Chinese students in South Korea advised to take leave of absence, as cases rise

Students wear masks at a school in Busan, South Korea, on February 11, 2020. Photo: YNA/dpa

Coronavirus: South Korea joins other nations planning to evacuate citizens on Diamond Princess

An ambulance is seen in front of the Diamond Princess cruise ship, docked in Yokohama, Japan. Several countries are starting to evacuate residents aboard the quarantined ship. Photo: Bloomberg

A bus with a driver (L) wearing protective gear departs from the dockside next to the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which has around 3,600 people quarantined onboard due to fears of the new COVID-19 coronavirus, at the Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama port on February 16, 2020. - The number of people who have tested positive for the new coronavirus on a quarantined ship off Japan's coast has risen to 355, the country's health minister said February 16. (Photo by Behrouz MEHRI / AFP)

Passengers wave on the cruise ship Diamond Princess, as the vessel's passengers continue to be tested for coronavirus, at Daikoku Pier Cruise Terminal in Yokohama, south of Tokyo, Japan February 16, 2020. REUTERS/Athtit Perawongmetha

In South Korea, coronavirus anxiety keeps wary shoppers at home

A man wearing a faces mask passes by the main entrance gate to Chinatown in Incheon, South Korea, on Friday. Photo: AP

epa08210256 A group of South Korean civic activists calls for the government to prevent Chinese students studying in South Korea from reentering the country after visiting their hometowns, amid growing fear of a coronavirus outbreak, outside the government complex in Seoul, South Korea, 11 February 2020. The virus, which originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan, has so far killed 1,018 people and infected over 43,000 worldwide, mostly in China. EPA-EFE/YONHAP SOUTH KOREA OUT

Workers wearing protective gears spray disinfectant as a precaution against a new coronavirus at a theater in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, Feb. 6, 2020. Ten more people were sickened with a new virus aboard one of two quarantined cruise ships with some 5,400 passengers and crew aboard, health officials in Japan said Thursday, as China reported 73 more deaths and the World Health Organization appealed for more funds to help countries battle the spread of the disease. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Mass wedding in South Korea attracts turnout of 30,000 despite coronavirus fears

A couple wearing protective face masks attend a mass wedding ceremony in Gapyeong on February 7, 2020. Photo: AFP

Couples from around the world celebrate in a mass wedding ceremony at the Cheong Shim Peace World Center in Gapyeong, South Korea, Friday, Feb. 7, 2020. South Korean and foreign couples exchanged or reaffirmed marriage vows in the Unification Church's mass wedding arranged by Hak Ja Han Moon, wife of the late Rev. Sun Myung Moon, the controversial founder of the Unification Church. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

A couple wearing masks for protection from the new coronavirus, attends a mass wedding ceremony of the Unification Church at Cheongshim Peace World Centre in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 7, 2020. REUTERS/Heo Ran

Couples, some with masks for protection from the new coronavirus, attend a mass wedding ceremony of the Unification Church at Cheongshim Peace World Centre in Gapyeong, South Korea, February 7, 2020. REUTERS/Heo Ran

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Ten people diagnosed with the Covid-19 disease attended the same church a 61-year-old woman who was Case 31
The new cases came as South Korea brought back seven people from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan



Ten people in South Korea diagnosed with the Covid-19 disease attended the same church a 61-year-old woman who was Case 31.
