Published 14:13 IST, February 29th 2020
Coronavirus: South Korea's vice health minister claims more cases possible in Daegu
South Korea’s Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip warns there might be more cases in the city of Daegu as authorities continue testing members of religious sect.
- World News
- 3 min read
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the South Korean city of Daegu has already crossed 2,000. According to reports, South Korea’s Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip has warned the nation that the number of infected may rise in the coming days as the authorities continue to run tests on the members of the Shincheonji religious group.
'Coming weekend critical'
South Korea now has almost 3,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and a vast majority of the infected patients are in the city of Daegu. Shincheonji religious group is reportedly at the heart of the coronavirus outbreak in South Korea. As per reports, the vice minister also added that the coming weekend will be crucial and has urged people not to go to events that will be attended by a lot of people in enclosed spaces.
Authorities tracking down religious group members
Authorities are scrambling to find almost 3,000 members of a religious group which practises an offshoot of Christianity. The major outbreak in South Korea took place in the southern city of Daegu where most of the cases were related to Shincheonji members. Last week, health surveys were conducted on 30,814 Shincheonji members of which 740 tested positive for COVID-19. During the health survey, 210 members performed the task on behalf of the government since group leaders stated that members won’t take calls from people outside the group.
Indian Embassy issues advisory
Though the Korean government raised the virus alert level to ‘red’, most of the cases were largely centred in Daegu and the neighbouring north Gyeongsang province. “Korean Government has declared Daegu and Cheongdo county in Gyeongbuk as ‘Special Care zones’. In this situation, please reconsider non-essential travel to these places,” tweeted the Indian Embassy on February 24.
The Indian Embassy in South Korea has already urged its citizens to reconsider non-essential travels to Daegu and Cheongdo county in Gyeongbuk after these were declared as “Special Care zones” by the government in the wake of coronavirus outbreak. The Embassy issued an advisory for Indian nationals living in South Korea following several calls and e-mails from them regarding the spike in the number of coronavirus cases in South Korea over the past few days.
(with inputs from agencies)
Updated 14:13 IST, February 29th 2020
