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Exclusive | China starts screening members of South Korean sect for coronavirus
- The Shincheonji Church of Jesus linked to a cluster of Covid-19 cases in South Korea and a researcher says members now being investigated by China
- The secretive group is thought to have around 20,000 members in mainland China, including a couple of hundred in Wuhan city
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The Chinese authorities are screening members of a secretive South Korean Christian sect for the coronavirus that causes Covid-19, according to a researcher who closely tracked the group in China.
The Shincheonji Church of Jesus has been linked to a cluster of cases in its native country and the researcher said the Chinese authorities were investigating some members who have visited South Korea.
Covid-19 has infected more than 81,000 people worldwide and killed more than 2,700. By far the highest number of cases have been in China, but South Korea has also seen more than 1,500 infections, more than any other country.
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Two clusters in South Korea have been linked to members of the church, and the South China Morning Post reported yesterday that it had around 200 members in Hubei, the province at the centre of the outbreak.
“[They are screening] not just those in Hubei but members in other parts of the country too … But of the ones that have been screened so far, all have been clear,” said the researcher, who learned about the screening from an official source.
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