Coronavirus latest: South Korea’s Moon says churches breaking rules must be punished; Japan cases ‘reaching peak’
- The president’s comments come as Sarang Jeil church, the epicentre of the new wave of infections, has refused to cooperate with health authorities
- Meanwhile, a Japanese official says the current wave is reaching its peak, while Australia’s cases drop to five-week low
The country reported 324 new cases on Friday, the eighth straight day of triple-digit increases and the first time the number crossed the 300-mark since March 8, bringing its total caseload to 16,670.
South Korea’s ‘grave situation’ after biggest virus surge in five months
“Laws must be enforced sternly to deal with activities hampering quarantine efforts, by applying not only the anti-epidemic law, but laws against obstruction of official duty and other criminal laws,” Moon told the Seoul city government.
“If necessary, [those who obstruct health authorities carrying out quarantine efforts] should be arrested on the spot,” he said.
The president criticised the church for “physically blocking” health officials and “spreading false allegations” to hamper quarantine measures.
As of Friday morning, of more than 3,400 people linked to the church cluster, 739 tested positive.
Further infections are being confirmed across the country as the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention investigates some 150 places linked to the church cluster.
The church’s founder Pastor Jeon Kwang-hoon, a maverick right-wing extremist, has accused the liberal government of spreading the virus in his church at the behest of North Korea. He has his wife have tested positive for the Covid-19 disease.
In defiance of distancing rules, Jeon led a massive anti-government rally in Seoul last Saturday, which led to at least 60 infections.
Under the current law, anyone breaching quarantine rules could face a year in prison or a fine of 10 million won (US$8,430).
Japan’s current wave ‘peaking’
Japan’s current wave of coronavirus infections has more or less reached its nationwide peak, said Shigeru Omi, head of the government’s virus advisory panel, as the country reported 1,185 new infections on Thursday.
Japan saw a second wave of infections that started a few weeks ago after reopening the economy following a period under a state of emergency.
The country plans to ease its strict coronavirus entry restrictions on foreign nationals with resident visas starting next month, public broadcaster NHK reported, after an outcry over the emotional and economic hardship that the measures were inflicting.
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Meanwhile, the governor of Iwate in northern Japan has criticised the national government’s campaign to encourage travel with discounts as a “failure”.
Governor Takuya Tasso told reporters the “GoTo” scheme “was carried out too soon, and so I think it can be called a failure”.
Iwate has had the fewest coronavirus cases among Japan’s prefectures at 11 confirmed cases. The first case was reported just a month ago. Tasso credited low population congestion, lack of travel from abroad and the rest of Japan, and the cautious nature of residents for Iwate’s success.
Australia cases drop to five-week low
Victoria reported 179 new cases in the past 24 hours, from 240 a day earlier and down from over 700 a day two weeks ago. The state reported nine deaths.
The country’s most populous state, neighbouring New South Wales, reported just one new case as an emergency cabinet of state and federal leaders discussed the prospect of relaxing closures of state borders that have been in place for months.
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“Today’s meeting of national cabinet came during what I would describe as a week of increased hope,” Prime Minister Scott Morrison told a televised news conference. “We’re doing better than most and many of the developed world in this situation.”
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said new case numbers in his state had fallen faster than he expected after the state imposed a nightly curfew and shut many businesses.
“We are all pleased to see a ‘one’ in front of these additional case numbers,” Andrews said. “To be at this point shows that the strategy is working.”
01:02
New Zealand hits back after Donald Trump claims the country has ‘terrible’ Covid-19 surge
New Zealand’s Ardern defers lockdown decision
Ardern said after a review of the lockdown that there was no need to change any settings at this stage, and promised to review them again on Monday.
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“We have made good progress. Unlike our first lockdown we are not dealing with multiple outbreaks,” she said at a news conference. “There is nothing to suggest we need change our course and certainly nothing that suggests that we need to escalate our response.”
The latest cases brought the total in New Zealand to 1,315, including 105 active cases. The country of 5 million people has reported 22 deaths from the Covid-19 disease.
Reporting by Reuters, Kyodo
