South Korea in ‘grave situation’ after biggest coronavirus outbreak in five months
- Fears grow about a massive outbreak in the greater capital region
- Spike prompts authorities to reimpose tighter social distancing curbs
“The daily new Covid-19 cases suddenly spiked to 279, with infections centred on some churches,” he said in a Facebook message.
“We are in a very grave situation … This is a critical moment to determine the success or failure of our quarantine efforts”.
Moon was referring to South Korea’s initial outbreak earlier this year and the country’s aggressive attempts to get its outbreaks under control.
Moon berated churches for disregarding social distancing guidelines and accused them of refusing to cooperate with health authorities in tracing contacts.
A right-wing church pastor encouraged his followers to join thousands on August 15 liberation day on Tuesday, protesting against Moon’s policies and defying a ban on rallies in the capital.
South Korea hit with resurgence of church-linked infection clusters
“This is an outright challenge to the state’s quarantine system and unpardonable act that threatens the lives of the people,” Moon said.
He vowed to “crack down hard on illegal acts that undermine public safety and order”.
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The new reported cases on Sunday raised the country’s total caseload to 15,318. Of the new cases, 267 were local transmissions. Most of the new infections were around the capital Seoul.
The capital posted a record 146 new cases, out of which 107 were linked to Sarang Jeil Church led by Reverend Jun Kwang-hoon, a controversial pastor and an outspoken government critic.
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The Covid-19 resurgence in a region with 10 times more people than Daegu is a rude awakening for a country that has been eager to tout its hard-won gains against the virus.
“We feel as if we were standing on an embankment that is about to collapse under our feet”, said Kwon Jun-wook, deputy head of the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
The death toll, however, remained unchanged at 305, with a 1.99 per cent fatality rate.
After resisting calls to strengthen social distancing for months over concerns about further hurting the economy, the government announced stronger measures for the Seoul area.
The two-week measures beginning Sunday advise high-risk facilities like nightclubs, karaoke bars, gyms and buffet restaurants to close or otherwise enforce distancing, temperature checks, keeping customer lists and mask wearing.
Fans are banned once again from professional baseball and soccer games, which had just begun to slowly bring back spectators in late July.
Additional reporting by Reuters and Associated Press
