Mass coronavirus outbreak looms amid swelling church cluster infection
Concerns about infections traced to a church in northern Seoul have fanned fears of a massive outbreak, as cases continued to spread across South Korea at an alarming rate Tuesday.The country reported 246 more new coronavirus cases, raising its total caseload to 15,761, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The number of new cases identified in the past five days came close to 1,000.Among the new infections, those linked to Sarang Jeil Church ballooned to 319 in less than a week since the first case was reported on Aug. 12. With the latest figure, it has emerged as the country's second-biggest cluster infection after the fringe religious sect Shincheonji, in which 5,214 were infected.But the number, which includes cases identified before noon Monday, is feared to further rise. Of the 2,000, or roughly half of the church's 4,000 members who were screened for the new coronavirus, 16 percent have tested positive.Authorities suspect the clusterinfection has worsened as some church members were in close contact with each other, such as sleeping and eating at t
Aug 18, 2020