SEOUL - South Korean officials on Friday (Feb 21) designated two cities as "special care zones" while its military confined troops to their bases in a desperate effort to contain the spread of coronavirus after a recent spike in cases.
South Korea reported 52 new confirmed cases of the coronavirus, taking the national total to 156, making it the worst-infected country outside China.
Thirty-nine of the new cases were linked to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the southern city of Daegu, the Korean Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.
More than 80 members of Shincheonji have now been infected, starting with a 61-year-old woman who developed a fever on Feb 10 but attended at least four church services before being diagnosed, a scenario that health authorities described as a "super-spreading event".
Of the national tally, 111 patients are from Daegu or nearby.
Malls, restaurants and streets in the city, the country’s fourth-largest with a population of 2.5 million, were largely empty as the mayor called the outbreak an "unprecedented crisis".
As of Friday more than 400 members of the church are showing symptoms of the disease, though tests were still ongoing, Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin said at a briefing.
He said the city would ban any kind of mass gathering, and repeated a request for residents to stay at home.
Outside the Shincheonji church in the city, Seo Dong-min, 24, told AFP: "With so many confirmed cases here I’m worried that Daegu will become the second Wuhan," referring to the Chinese city where the virus first emerged.
Shincheonji is often accused of being a cult and claims its founder, Lee Man-hee, has donned the mantle of Jesus Christ and will take 144,000 people with him to heaven on the day of judgement.
The newly identified coronavirus has created alarm because there are still many important unknowns surrounding it. It can cause pneumonia, which has been deadly in some cases.
Many of South Korea’s initial patients have recovered, though it reported the first death from the virus on Thursday.
The government will designate Daegu and neighbouring Cheongdo county as "special care zones", Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said at a meeting of senior government officials in Seoul on Friday.
"It is urgent to find those who were in contact with the infected and treat the diagnosed people as soon as possible," Mr Chung said. "We will proactively provide necessary assistance including sickbeds, personnel and equipment."
The government also plans to send military medical staff, and provide temporary isolation facilities, he said.
In the South Korean capital of Seoul, city officials said they would not allow any of the large protests and demonstrations that are often held on the weekends, Yonhap news agency reported.
After several military members tested positive for the virus on Thursday, Defence Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo decided to ban all soldiers from taking leave, leaving their barracks, and receiving guests.
Some exceptions would be made for family emergencies or for soldiers at the end of their military service, the ministry said.
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