South Korea records 229 new cases of the Coronavirus today, taking the total figure to 433
South Korea’s Centres for Disease Control (KCDC) and Prevention has reported 229 new cases of the deadly Coronavirus (COVID-19), today, i.e., Saturday, February 22, 2020, taking the total tally of infected people to 433.
This is the second highest number outside People’s Republic of China. Over the past 4 days, the number of infected people has grown 6 folds. On Friday, i.e., February 21, 2020, the country reported 204 cases.
Of these, 150 cases comprise of members of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the city of Daegu where the infection started with a 61-year-old woman who developed a fever in February 2020 but attended at least 4 services at the Church before being diagnosed.
Shincheonji has also offered an apology as one its member was responsible for spreading the COVID-19. It has also suspended its worship services and gatherings nationwide.
A statement from Shincheonji read, “We are deeply sorry that because of one of our members, who thought of her condition as a cold because she had not travelled abroad, led to many in our church being infected and thereby caused concern to the local community.”
Shincheonji is a religious organisation and new religious movement established in South Korea by Lee Man-hee. Shincheonji is accused of being a cult. It has over 120,000 members. Shincheonji followers believe that Lee, the founder, is the second coming or the returned Jesus Christ. They believe that Lee has donned the mantle of Jesus Christ and will take 144,000 people with him to heaven on the day of judgement.
Another 92 cases relate to patients or staff at Cheongdo Daenam Hospital. South Korea has also designated 2 cities as ‘Special Care Zones’ as it steps-up efforts to contain the spread of COVID-19. South Korea has advised locals to stay indoors, while access to a major US military base in the area has been restricted.
Speaking on the occasion, Seoul’s Vice Health Minister – Kim Gang-lip said, “Most of the hospital’s patients who have been diagnosed are those who had been staying as inpatients for mental illnesses.”
Besides, the Prime Minister of South Korea – Chung Sye-kyun has announced to support the region with medical personnel, beds and equipment. The Cabinet will meet 3 times a week to discuss the outbreak.
Separately, China recorded a drop in the number of cases as compared to previous day. It recorded 397 cases as against 889, a day earlier. Hubei Province, the epicentre of the outbreak, reported 366 new confirmed cases and 106 new deaths. Globally, there have been 2,363 deaths from the virus so far with 77,932 cases.
Source:SCMPThe President of China – Xi Jinping has thanked the Co-Founders of Microsoft Corporation – Bill Gates and Melinda Gates for their support to China during the outbreak.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation had announced it would provide upto U.S.$ 100 million for the global response to the epidemic. The foundation said that parts of the money would be used to accelerate the detection, isolation and treatment of the coronavirus in China and other countries that have confirmed cases.
