Global Outbreak

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South Korea coronavirus cases Spike in the last week

South Korea has seen by far the highest number of coronavirus cases outside of China within a week of confirmed cases jumped from a few dozen to More Than 900.

The Land was well prepared and the exploding numbers have a lot of questions on how this is done - and whether a similar sudden outbreak may elsewhere happen.

In South Korea , More Than half of the Covid-19 cases were linked to a religious sect and critics say The Group helped the mysterious nature of The Virus undetected.

Why The Number of cases spike so suddenly?

the authorities have established That the fringe Christian group Shincheonji Church as The Heart of this outbreak.

On their performances in the southeastern city of Daegu, The Members probably infected another, And Then in a fan shape around the country, seemingly undetected.

The South Korean health officials believe That a 61-year-old member of The Sect , the tested last week positive for The Virus was among The First to be infected and is now in the center of their investigation.

The patient initially refused, in a hospital, to be tested and is known to several Church events, before the Test is positive.

Every large gathering in a closed room you would have attended a Service in The Church would probably have to say led to further infections, health officials.

the authorities have struck since disinfected the area around the Shincheonji building

the Director of The South Korean centre for disease control, Jung Eun-kyeong, at a press conference That "there is a possibility That the characteristics of many people sitting closely together in a confined space and keep the Service for More Than an hour" would have led ", a couple of, exposed to, infected many other infectees".

"The Virus is hunting our social habits and interactions, the" infectious said disease specialist Dr Leong Hoe Nam from the BBC.

"It may be, the procedures within The Church - such as crying or the blare of the song - That would be droplets of an incentive transfer. "

Another cluster in the context of The Sect is in a hospital in Cheongdo, where a large number of sect followers attended the funeral of The Founder of the brother over Three Days at the end of January .

South Korea sees sharp rise in infection source: Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC)

The Church , the churches in other countries have also virus outbreak clusters, but in much smaller numbers than in South Korea . All of them services and community meetings have stopped for the containment of the spread.

So, why was it not detected earlier?

Since the outbreak began in China in December, one of the most important questions was how early The Virus can be detected and whether it is distributed no Symptoms can be of people who don't show, the would. be very difficult to stop the spread

While Chinese health authorities have long warned of the contagious people can be before They show any Symptoms , The World health Organisation has not confirmed That .

South Korea was already on a warning about The Virus , before the Cluster have been discovered. So, if the people were probably careful and pay increased attention to each others' health, does this then suggest That people Without any Symptoms were able to stop the spread of The Virus ?

"It's a contentious issue," says Dale Fisher, Chairman of the Global Outbreak Alert and Response Network at The Who , told the BBC.

"What we can say is That it spreads early in the recital That Sars (severe acute respiratory syndrome), for example, late in the disease. "

He explains That infected people have The Virus in your throat before you show any Symptoms . However, Without the Symptoms Without cough - They are also much less likely to the spread of The Virus .

Simply put, to spread to spread The Virus far, would need an infected person to cough, I. e. cough on your hands, on surfaces or other people.

"In the worst case, the infectivity of an infected person Without Symptoms is much lower," said Mr Fischer explains. "And to be Clear - the Symptoms are not the large spreader. It is only when you have Symptoms , you can distribute it easily. "

What do we know about Shincheonji?

was Officially founded of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus The Temple of the tabernacle of The Testimony , The Group , in the 1980s and claims to have around 250,000 followers.

During the services, The Members are supposedly asked to collect kneel and sit very closely together and continue after the Service is over.

The fringes of the Christian mega-Church is accused by some critics as a cult.

It is common to hide your membership of Shincheonji Church , as They are not a popular sect in South Korea , says the BBC's South Korea correspondent Laura Argue.

Daegu branch of the Shincheongji Church with dozens of cases

you also see illness as a weakness. This combination means That tracking those who has already infected proved to be difficult. There are still some Church -goers to track the health authorities have not managed.

The Group says That it has a full cooperation with the authorities and submitted a list of its members.

On Tuesday, however, the officials broke in one of the offices of The Church after discovering some of the names were left off The List .

in the General Public , there is a lot of anger and blame directed at the cult, and hundreds of thousands have for the resolution of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus.

About 552,000 people under an online petition signed, since Saturday, after it was submitted, on the website of the presidential office of Cheong Wa dae.

"Shincheonji contributed significantly to the sharp increase in The Number of patients who said in Korea Won Suk choi division of infectious diseases at the Korea University College of Medicine, the BBC, but he also warns That "The Situation in Korea is currently the can happen anywhere in The World ".

what will be The South Koreans?

It is the fear in South Korea , especially for older parents and relatives, according to our correspondent, in the worst-affected city of Daegu is.

But there is also a resigned acceptance, and many South Koreans believe the country was well prepared for this outbreak.

the doctors and hospitals were on standby for weeks. There are briefings from the center for the prevention and control twice A Day , where the expert assignment of The Source of each infection.

There are also text messages alerting residents of confirmed cases in your area to tell where you have been and when.

in contrast to Hong Kong or Singapore, there was very little panic buying in South Korea until the beginning of the week.

However, if the transactions in Daegu announced They had arrive a new stock of masks, thousands queued for hours in The Hope of getting a.

the reporting by the BBC, Andreas Illmer.

coronavirus outbreak, china, south korea, infection

Source of news: bbc.com