South Korea: Couples arrive wearing masks at mass wedding amid coronavirus dread

Amid the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak, South Korean groom Lee Kwon-Seok reportedly joined thousands of other couples in the latest mass wedding performed by a Unification Church on February 7. However, the couple did not want to take any chance so he also brought surgical masks to wear, his black to match his suit and hers white to match her dress. According to international media reports, approximately 30,000 people from around the world gathered at the Cheong Shim Peace World Centre in Gapyeong, northeast of Seoul. 

As the deadly virus has been spreading rapidly, the Church staff prepared hand sanitizer, handed out surgical masks and checked couples' temperatures as well. However, the media outlet reported that at the end of the ceremony only a few couples wore masks at the wedding ceremony which was also overseen by Hak Ja Han Moon, wife of the founder of the Unification Church, and known to believers as 'True Mother'. While speaking to the media outlet, a 23-year-old bride from Benin said that she did not put on a mask as she wanted to look beautiful for her husband. 

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'Global health emergency'

The deadly virus has already claimed at least 636 lives in China and has also infected nearly 30,000 people across the country. The outbreak took place in Wuhan in January and multiple countries have started evacuating their citizens from the country, and have decided to restrict the entry of foreigners returning from China. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared Coronavirus as a 'global public health emergency'.

In order to tackle the spreading virus, WHO stated that the international community has further launched a USD 675 million preparedness and response plan covering the months of February through to April 2020. Earlier, WHO had also warned the international public health authorities that the Wuhan Virus was of a significant threat to the nations outside mainland China and the disease's pandemic nature enforced a global response to the outbreak. Authorities also banned Chinese nationals from travelling into their territory, suspending airlines and halting the visa issuance as well as immigration facility.

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