42 Shincheonji followers came to Korea from Wuhan over eight months

A man wears a mask and goggles as he waits in line to buy face masks from a post office near the Daegu branch of Shincheonji on Feb. 27, 2020. The secretive religious group at the center of Korea's coronavirus outbreak is a sprawling network so wealthy it can mobilize thousands of believers to hold Pyongyang-style mass performances at Seoul's Olympic stadium. AFP

The government said Saturday that 42 followers of the controversial Christian religious sect, the Shincheonji Church are presumed to have returned to the country from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, over the past eight months.

The Ministry of Justice said it checked the immigration records of around 245,000 Shincheonji followers at the request of the health authorities as the bulk of infections are linked to a branch church of the fringe sect in the southeastern city of Daegu

Of the total Shincheonji followers, around 3,600 arrived here from China between July 1, 2019, and Feb. 27, 2020, the ministry said. Among them 42 traveled from the central Chinese city of Wuhan.

The government said out of the 42, one is a foreign follower and the remainder are domestic believers who have a record of visiting the capital of Hubei province.

The ministry said the preliminary tally is subject to changes, depending on further investigations.

The government is conducting tests for COVID-19 on all Shincheonji followers as a cluster of infections are tied to the church. The administration reported 3,150 cases of the new virus as of Saturday afternoon and 17 deaths. (Yonhap)

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