Three days ago, no one would have expected South Korea to have the most number of COVID-19 cases outside of China.
Well, it has, and it’s allegedly due to one stubborn person known as “Patient 31”.
In two days, more than 200 new cases were reported, and there are now two deaths.
Here’s a chart done by Wikipedia that shows the exponential growth:
South Korea Reports 142 New Cases With 2nd Death; Total Cases at 346
As of yesterday night, the total number of cases in South Korea is at 204. The authorities have declared Daegu and Cheongdo as “special management zones”.
The outbreak in the country stemmed from two main clusters.
A 61-year-old churchgoer had refused to be tested for COVID-19 and gone for at least four service, and eventually infected more than 150 members from her church.
The other cluster is from a hospital in Cheongdo county near Daegu. It can be loosely linked to the church as well, as many cases were close contacts in a funeral was held in a hall owned by the hospital—and the funeral was for the church founder’s brother.
People were so unhappy with the church that someone threw eggs at the front gate of the building.
The church, the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, is often accused of being a cult, as it claims that its founder, Lee Man-hee, has donned the mantle of Jesus Christ and will take 144,000 people with him to Heaven, body, and soul, on the Day of Judgement.
Now is perhaps a good time to watch the Netflix drama, Messiah.
This morning (22 February 2020), the country reported 142 new cases and a 2nd death. The deceased is a woman in her 50s, and died in the south-western city of Busan after being transferred there from another hospital.
This brings the total cases to 346.
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At this moment, all military bases are in lockdown as three confirmed cases were based in military camps, and the streets of Daegu is almost as empty as Wuhan.
At the Shincheonji church in Daegu, a man who claimed to be the only person in the church now, was seen coming out of the building and threatening to call the police if anyone tried to get it. He was there just to stick “no entry” signs on the car park fence.
In the meantime, over here in Singapore, there’s a downward trend on the number of new cases: yesterday (21 February 2020), there was only one new case. In addition, there are now more discharged patients than patients who are isolated.
