Through the Global Positioning System, a person infected with the emerging coronavirus (Covid 19) has been linked to a highly secretive religious community in South Korea. Currently, the infection is spreading very quickly.
In his report published by the American "Daily Beast" website, the writer Donald Kirk said that one of the churches in South Korea - whose founder says it represents the second descent of Christ on earth, and has unique visions of divine revelation - has blamed a lot on the increasing spread of the deadly Corona virus. in Korea.
A 61-year-old HIV-positive woman was discovered in South Korea and belongs to the Shinchongji Church in Daegu, a city of 2.4 million people, about 170 miles southeast of the capital, Seoul, and it soon became clear that more than half of the known cases were related to the members of these the church.
When the number of casualties began to rise at an alarming speed on Sunday, the government placed the country on the highest alert level, allowing it to close entire cities if necessary.
On Monday, South Korean health authorities announced 231 new cases of Coronavirus, bringing the total number of people infected with the virus in the country to 883.
The Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that many of these new cases are related to the Chinchongji Church in Daegu, after tests showed that the aforementioned woman attended more than one mass there and was infected with the virus last week, and this woman was called the "patient 31".
Daegu
The Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also announced the seventh and eighth deaths from the virus in a hospital in Cheongdu District, which has witnessed a rise in confirmed cases alongside the neighboring Daegu in recent weeks.
Of the total number of people diagnosed with the disease, 329 were either Chenchongi members or were in contact with them.
The writer mentioned that a former church member told South Korea's Yonhap Agency that the practices of Chenchongi during worship could increase the risk of infection with the Coruna virus, as participants kneel close to each other and sing songs while placing their arms on each other's shoulders. Moreover, there are concerns about the presence of this cult outside South Korea, including Hubei Province in China, the epicenter of the growing epidemic.
According to Yonhap, Lee Man He, the founder and leader of the church, 88, considered the disease a "work of Satan" and a test of faith aimed at stopping the growth of the Chenchongi.
The author reported what was reported in the "Dong a Ilbo" newspaper (one of the leading newspapers in Seoul) where "health authorities are facing difficulties because they have been unable to reach or contact more than four hundred church followers."
The newspaper added that through tracking the GPS, he discovered that the church member - and the first person infected with the virus - visited Cheongdu, where he reported the outbreak in the hospital, and the first person in Korea died of it.
crisis
"Since the entire nation suffers from a national crisis, the Chenchongi followers should voluntarily report symptoms, and keep themselves in the house, while cooperating fully with the authorities in quarantine efforts," the newspaper said in its editorial.
In contrast, Kokmin Elbo (a Christian newspaper with strong ties to the largest denomination in South Korea) suggested that Chinchonji members are reluctant to cooperate with the authorities monitoring the disease's progress.