Health authorities grapple with groundless rumors

By Lee Hyo-jin

Health authorities are grappling with groundless rumors regarding the recent spike of coronavirus cases, with populist conservative pastor Jun Kwang-hoon claiming the government fabricated test results.

Jun issued a statement in a full-page ad printed in local daily newspapers, Thursday, saying there is a huge religious-affiliation misrepresentation in the number of confirmed patients announced by the government.

Sarang Jeil Church pastor Jun Gwang-hoon

In a statement, he claimed the government is classifying random people who tested positive as Sarang Cheil church members. He also said the authorities are deliberately increasing the number of confirmed cases by forcing asymptomatic people to get tested.

“The government should reveal the percentage of confirmed cases to the people, not just numbers. The government forced our church members to be tested who had not even participated in the demonstration on Aug. 15. Some members haven't even attended the church for years,” he said in a statement.

The 64-year-old pastor tested positive for the virus, Monday, after leading an anti-government rally in central Seoul two days prior on Aug. 15. He is currently hospitalized at Seoul Medical Center in northeastern Seoul.

The government has been urging all participants of the rally to get tested, as more than 10,000 people from conservative and Christian groups, including congregants Jun's church, attended the demonstration.

However, many of them reportedly refused to get tested as they believe the government is persecuting them due to their anti-government activities. An unverified story is circulating that those who attended the rally are classified as confirmed patients at public health centers regardless of test results.

A video clip uploaded to YouTube, Tuesday, is labeled as a recorded phone call of a conversation with a person who appeared as a public officer at a public health center in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul. In the conversation, a woman claiming to be a petitioner said, “Why are confirmed patients getting negative results when retested at other hospitals? The public health center is evidently lying.” She also argued that the center prescribed tranquillizers for the confirmed patients.

Seocho-gu Office immediately dismissed the report, saying the virus testing has been only conducted in a makeshift clinic. But the video clip was widely spread online, eroding trust in public medical centers.

As similar rumors have been spreading through messenger chatrooms, Facebook and Twitter, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has stepped forward for clarification, Wednesday.

Lee Sang-won, an official at the KCDC, labeled the spreading rumors as fake news. “It is impossible to fabricate test results and the government has no reason to deliberately raise the number of virus cases,” Lee said, reiterating calls for cooperation from church members.