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South Korea working to contain coronavirus outbreak

Friday, 28 February 2020 4:50 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 28 February 2020 4:50 PM ]

Workers wearing protective gear spray disinfectant as part of preventive measures against the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, at a subway station in Seoul, South Korea, on February 28, 2020. (Photo by AFP)

Jennifer Chang
Press TV, Seoul

South Korea — first hit with coronavirus on January 20 — is racing to prevent a third cluster of mass infections at Seoul’s Myeongseong Church, which could spread to hundreds in Seoul in days. After a pastor here tested positive for the deadly virus Wednesday, the megachurch shut down and did quarantine tests in this tent.

Two clusters with most of South Korea’s cases surround the outbreak’s two epicenters in the country’s southeast, with the national total standing at well over 2,000 cases and at least 13 deaths. One epicenter is Christian sect Shincheonji’s Daegu City church, whose services were attended by the suspected super spreader — a 61-year-old woman.

The sect says they shut down their 1,100 churches and annexed buildings nationwide, including this Seoul church — after she tested positive for the virus on the 17th. The other is Daenam Hospital in Cheongdo – a city near Daegu she visited.

Seoul’s mayor has been visiting and encouraging quarantined patients, doctors and nurses, including ones at Seoul Medical Center — which now only treats coronavirus patients due to its faster-than-expected spread — urging elbow contact instead of handshakes to block infections.

The mayor has also been meeting business owners in the capital to discuss ways to minimize economic damage — including a sharp decline in customers and sales — caused by fear of the disease.

South Korean President Moon Jae-in is reportedly asking his government to consider an emergency “super extra budget” worth over 8.2 billion US dollars to cope with the country’s dual health and economic coronavirus crises. But it remains to be seen if the plan can stop the outbreak in South Korea from permanently damaging the economy.

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