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Jeonbuk health authorities said that the event held at a church in Jeonju, Jeonbuk, where the COVID-19 outbreak occurred on the 25-26 of last month was a'healing and gifting rally'.
Healing and gifting meetings are Protestant meetings where members gather to heal diseases, as Jesus did in the Bible, and in general, there is a great concern about spreading droplets due to frequent physical contact between members and often making loud noises.
The congregation where the meeting was held was small enough to normally gather about 10 members, but more than 30 attendees gathered on this day, and it is known that some of the attendees were pastors and church members from Seoul.
The health authorities explained that the rest of the quarantine rules were not properly followed in addition to the number of people per area.
An official from the Jeonbuk-do health authorities said, "If you search on the Internet, you can check (how the assembly is held). If you wore a mask or distanced yourself, this (group infection) situation would not have occurred."
He added, "Because the list of attendees could not be made, we requested a list from the organizers."
In Jeollabuk-do, 29 confirmed cases were added, including 17 from religious gatherings over two days.
As the current status of attendees at religious meetings has not been identified, there is concern about the possibility of further spreading to the local community.