Coronavirus: South Korea sees eight-fold jump in cases to 433, most linked to Daegu church
- Of the new cases, 200 are linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu
- Samsung halts operations at its Gumi plant after a worker was confirmed to be infected with the virus
There’s concern that the death toll, currently at three, could grow. Virus patients with signs of pneumonia or other serious conditions at the Cheongdo hospital were transferred to other facilities, 17 of them in critical condition, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told reporters.
He said that the outbreak had entered a serious new phase, but still expressed cautious optimism that it can be contained to the region surrounding Daegu, where the first case was reported on Tuesday.
South Korean Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun started a government meeting on the health emergency on Friday by saying: “We have entered an emergency phase. Our efforts until now had been focused on blocking the illness from entering the country. But we will now shift the focus on preventing the illness from spreading further in local communities.”