Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Gov't to take tougher restrictions amid fears of virus resurgence
A visitor gets tested for the coronavirus at a makeshift testing center set up in Seongbuk-gu, the northeastern Seoul, Monday, amid growing fears over the resurgence of the virus in the greater Seoul area. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
Seoul church under fire for mass infections, uncooperative response to virus tests
By Bahk Eun-ji
The health authorities said Monday that the recent resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the Seoul and metropolitan areas is the early stages of a massive outbreak, and stressed that they will take tougher quarantine measures if it does not subside by the end of this week.
The statement came as infections linked specifically to a church in northern Seoul have kept surging, raising public concern over the coronavirus spreading quickly across the country.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 197 new infections, including 188 domestic cases, for Sunday, taking the nation's total caseload to 15,515. The figure came a day after the nation reported 279 new daily cases, marking the first time since early March that the new daily infections surpassed 200.
Of the newly identified local infections, 89 were reported in the capital, while 67 were from the surrounding Gyeonggi Province, the KCDC said.
Cases tied to the Sarang Jeil Church in Seongbuk District, Seoul, added 70 additional ones for a total of 319. With the latest figure, the church has emerged as the country's second-biggest virus hotbed following the 5,214 cases linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a religious sect that was deemed accountable for mass infections in the southeastern city of Daegu early this year.
Ten patients were members of the Yoido Full Gospel Church, the world's biggest church with 560,000 members.
“If the number of new cases in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province doesn't stabilize by the end of this week, the government will further strengthen quarantine measures such as imposing strict social distancing rules nationwide,” said Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip during a regular press briefing at the Government Complex in Sejong.
The measures will include keeping public facilities such as libraries, galleries and museums closed, and banning large gatherings with estimated attendees of more than 50 people indoors and 100 outdoors across the country, Kim said.
In Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, these rules are already in effect.
Companies in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province responded to the resurgence quickly by asking employees to work from home. SK Innovation and Kakao Corp were among the firms to do so.
“The ongoing situation in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province reminds us of the mass infection in Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province in February and March, but it has more dangerous factors than that in terms of infection patterns and responses to our quarantine work,” Kim explained.
In the case of Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the spread of infection was fast, but the fatality rate was relatively low as the majority of patients were younger. But in recent cases reported in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province, the risk is higher as sporadic infections have been taking place in various areas and facilities, involving small-sized worship services or rallies.
“As the pandemic prolonged with the summer rainy season, public awareness toward social distancing has loosened. This is another difficulty for quarantine work,” Kim said.
Meanwhile, starting Monday, foreign arrivals infected with the virus will be required to pay for the cost of their treatment in full, if they violate local quarantine rules.