Coronavirus: South Korean church cluster in Daegu brings total number of cases to 46
- Ten people diagnosed with the Covid-19 disease attended the same church a 61-year-old woman who was Case 31
- The new cases came as South Korea brought back seven people from the virus-hit Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan
Of the new cases, 13 were in Daegu and the neighbouring North Gyeongsang province, said the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), and eleven were believed to be linked to a single patient, a 61-year-old woman.
Ten of them attend the same church as the woman, who was the 31st case, the KCDC said.
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The woman and the 10 others attend the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, which has issued a notice to followers across the country to stop gathering and attend prayer sessions online.
The news that Case 31 and a few others diagnosed with the Covid-19 disease had neither travelled abroad nor come into contact other infected patients has fuelled concerns of the rise of community transmissions in South Korea.
"We keep the possibility open that the virus has passed through the quarantine nets to start community transmissions,” Noh Hong-in, a senior government official in charge of fighting the virus, told journalists.
Daegu City Mayor Kwon Young-jin urged residents to put on protective face masks, wash their hands and stay away from public gatherings until the disease eased off.
The number of people in South Korea being assessed for the Covid-19 disease and under quarantine came to 1,030 as of early Wednesday, up from 818 the day, the KCDC said.
Twelve people have recovered and were discharged from hospital.
A presidential jet landed at Gimpo airport in Seoul with six Korean nationals and a Japanese spouse, who were then taken to a medical facility in Incheon to be quarantined.
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South Korea last week sent a third chartered flight to evacuate South Koreans and their Chinese family members from Wuhan, the Chinese city at the centre of the epidemic.
“At the moment there are no signals, there are no indications we are dealing with any Covid-19 there,” Mike Ryan, head of WHO’s emergencies programme, told a news conference in Geneva on Tuesday.
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WHO officials had “no reason to believe that there are any specific issues” going on in North Korea, and would be providing authorities in the North with more laboratory supplies to conduct diagnostic tests, Ryan said.
Some media outlets in the South have reported multiple cases and possible deaths from the virus in North Korea, but there has been no independent verification.
On Tuesday, Rodong Sinmun, the official newspaper of North Korea’s ruling party, quoted a public health official reiterating the country had “no confirmed case of the new coronavirus so far”.
An outbreak of the disease could be devastating for the under-resourced health system in North Korea, experts said.
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The WHO has prioritised aid for North Korea, and a shipment of protective equipment and supplies was due to be shipped there this week, Ryan said.
“The government is very anxious as you can imagine, as all governments are, to make preparations and are seeking our technical and operational assistance to help them get ready,” he said.
Additional reporting by Park Chan-kyong