South Korean Cult Church Leader Claiming To Be Messiah Could Face Coronavirus ‘murder’ Charge

De CidesaWiki

This week, a group of former worshippers visited district prosecutors and alleged that "by submitting fake documents, he has impeded the government in its epidemiological efforts against the new Coronavirus cult", the Korea Times reported. The church is also accused of lying about its missionary work in Wuhan, regarded as the outbreak’s epicentre.

Daegu health officials reserved hospital resources for only those who absolutely needed them while identifying and isolating as many cases of Covid-19 as possible, thereby preventing community spread by household contacts. Meanwhile, the city began designating 10 hospitals for the care of Covid-19 patients on February 21. Existing inpatients at these institutions were transferred to other hospitals, and a subset of these facilities was dedicated entirely to the treatment of Covid-19. Daegu Medical Center, a regional district public hospital, and Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital continued to exclusively manage patients with Covid-19. Meanwhile, hospitals like COMWEL Daegu Hospital were initially Covid-19-only hospitals that began accepting non-Covid-19 patients as the caseload decreased. Other hospitals maintained care for patients without Covid-19.

A second, perhaps more important, group to consider are individuals of faith. Religious beliefs can have profound effects on cooperation if those beliefs come into conflict with science or the SOP. Similar conflicts are known to have prolonged the 2013-2016 Ebola epidemic in Africa. In South Korea, members and direct acquaintances of the church group Shincheonji account for a staggering two-thirds of all COVID-19 cases.