Jun Ji-hye, a reporter at the finance desk of The Korea Times, focuses primarily on economic policy and government agencies, mainly covering the Ministry of Finance and Economy, the Ministry of Budget and Planning, the National Tax Service and the Korea Customs Service. She previously covered financial authorities, including the Financial Services Commission and the Financial Supervisory Service, and earlier worked on the political, city and business desks, reporting on a wide range of issues.
S. Korea raises alert level to 'highest' for COVID-19
President Moon Jae-in speaks at an inter-agency meeting on COVID-19 at the Government Complex Seoul, Sunday, amid confirmation of hundreds of additional cases of the new coronavirus over the weekend. Moon said the government has decided to raise the alert level for the virus to its “highest” as the country is being “confronted by a grave watershed.” / Yonhap
By Jun Ji-hye
Korea reports 169 new coronavirus cases, 6th death
By Jun Ji-hye
The government raised the country's alert level for COVID-19 (nCoV-2019) to its highest, Sunday, as the total number of infections here rose to 602, and the death tally from the coronavirus reached six as of 10 p.m. (Sunday)
“We're facing a critical point in the fight against the coronavirus,” President Moon Jae-in said Sunday, announcing the new alert. “The next several days will be an important watershed, and central and local governments, the quarantine authorities and medical sector, and all people must make all-out joint efforts.”
The last time Korea saw the highest public health alert was in 2009 when it was hit by the H1N1 influenza virus.
Moon said the alert level was raised because the country has entered a full emergency situation following the snowballing infections involving members of the Shincheonji Church in Daegu.
The government has set up a central disaster and safety countermeasures headquarters under the prime minister. The headquarters is set up in the event of natural disasters or other serious situations when pan-national efforts are required. This is the first time that a prime minister has taken charge, as usually the interior or safety minister takes the lead.
As a preventive measure against the spread of the virus, the Ministry of Education ordered schools across the nation ― from kindergartens to high schools ― to postpone their spring semester openings by one week to March 9.
In the evening, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said a 59-year-old man, who tested positive for the virus while hospitalized at Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province, had died. Two more deaths were reported earlier in the day.
Four out of the six coronavirus deaths have been at the hospital where at least 111 people, including nine medical staff and other employees, are confirmed to have been infected.
Also among the newly confirmed patients is a 16-month-old, the youngest patient reported in Korea.
Among the 169 patients confirmed Sunday, 95 attended services at the Shincheonji Church. The health authorities are working to determine the infection pathway for the remaining cases.
While the number of COVID-19 infections here has continued to rise since last week, 494 patients out of the total 602 are residents of Daegu and the adjacent North Gyeongsang Province.
The health authorities have sought to question 9,334 members of Shincheonji Church in Daegu. Of them, 1,248 said they had symptoms associated with the coronavirus, the KCDC said, noting that testing was currently underway.
The KCDC is also cooperating with police to trace the whereabouts of 670 members of the church, whom they have been unable to contact.
Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin asked all members of the Shincheonji Church to submit to virus testing at the earliest possible date.
He also said 25 Shincheonji facilities in the region have been shut down since Feb. 18.
“The Daegu City Government has strongly requested the religious group to suspend all events,” he said.
Meanwhile, 18 out of 39 Koreans who made a group pilgrimage to Israel from Feb. 8 to 16 have been confirmed to be infected with COVID-19. Most of the pilgrims are from North Gyeongsang Province, while their tour guide is a Seoul resident.
However, they are completely unrelated to the Shincheonji Church, and Israel has reported few coronavirus cases, leaving the task of tracing the infection vector to the health authorities here.
The Catholic Times, a religious newspaper based in Daegu that arranged the pilgrimage tour, said it has shut down its offices in Seoul and Daegu, and put its employees under quarantine following the infections.