COVID-19 Pushes South Korea Into Recession

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38.4 million to date. Other ports face similar restrictions. Not all industries have suffered from COVID-19, however; some industries have benefited from the crisis. Thanks to South Korea’s own success in containing COVID-19, exports of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals have expanded significantly. Health care exports overall were up 27 percent in the first half of the year.

HALF of all coronavirus cases in South Korea are linked to a secret religious cult whose leader believes he is immortal. Officials confirmed at least 231 of the country's 433 cases are linked to outbreaks at a secretive branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in Daegu. Shincheonji translates as "new heaven and land" and the cult is drawing global attention after being linked to a spike in coronavirus infections across the nation. Cult leader Lee Man-Hee, now aged 88, labelled the deadly outbreak "the devil's deed" and "a test of faith" in a message sent on an internal app.

Lee and Shincheonji have steadfastly denied the accusation. More than 5,200 of South Korea’s 13,672 cases have been linked to the church. Its branch in the southern city of Daegu became the biggest cluster after infections spiked in late February. Senior Health Ministry official Yoon Tae-ho said the spread of the coronavirus is stabilizing in the Seoul area and other major cities. The 60 new cases reported Friday included 39 linked to people arriving from abroad.

In June, at least 100 cases were linked to a logistics centre run by the e-commerce giant. The government has extended second-tier social-distancing rules to the whole country after new cases appeared in all of its 17 regions. Under the restrictions church meetings are banned and nightclubs, buffets and cyber cafes are closed. South Korea has recorded an average of 162.1 daily infections over the past two weeks - 13 times the average of two weeks ago. Of the new cases, 84% were in the Seoul metropolitan area, the KCDC said.

Data on protective masks sold through public channels is being jointly provided by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, and small and medium companies through an open API. Around 10 developers are understood to have used the data so far to launch apps. The Ministry of Science and ICT noted the importance of "public-private cooperation" such as this to manage the situation. There could be a challenge, though, as Apple and Google are taking measures to prevent the spread of coronavirus misinformation via apps, reports say. This could include rejecting coronavirus-related apps which are not submitted by governments or health authorities.