03-17-2020, 03:11 PM
South Korean church infects dozens of members with coronavirus after spraying saltwater in their mouths (photos)
A South Korean church has been struck down with coronavirus after 46 members including the pastor and his wife were infected with the virus.Â
Â
According to local reports, they were infected after an official failed to wipe a saltwater spray bottle they sprayed inside their mouths as they thought it would help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Â
Surveillance footage from the River of Grace Community Church in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul, shows a church official sticking the spray bottle deep into the mouth of one follower after another, during a prayer gathering attended by '100 followers' on March 1 and March 8.Â
Â
Â
“It’s been confirmed that they put the nozzle of the spray bottle inside the mouth of a follower who was later confirmed as a patient, before they did likewise for other followers as well, without disinfecting the sprayer,” said Lee Hee-young, co-chief of the Gyeonggi Province COVID-19 Emergency Response team,
Â
“This made it inevitable for the virus to spread,” he said. “They did so out of the false belief that saltwater kills the virus.”
Â
The church has since been closed and all its believers who attended the prayer sessions are being tested.
Â
The church's pastor, identified as Kim, has apologized for the mass infection of his church members.
'I feel deeply sorry about what has happened. I will take all the blame and responsibility,' Kim told Yonhap News Agency, indicating his intention to retire after the ongoing crisis is over.Â
This comes a month after more than half of 4,000 coronavirus cases in South Korea was linked to Shincheonji cult, a secretive churchÂ
South Korea's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 74 new cases on Monday, bringing its total tally to 8,236.Â
Â
Â
A South Korean church has been struck down with coronavirus after 46 members including the pastor and his wife were infected with the virus.Â
Â
According to local reports, they were infected after an official failed to wipe a saltwater spray bottle they sprayed inside their mouths as they thought it would help prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Â
Surveillance footage from the River of Grace Community Church in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul, shows a church official sticking the spray bottle deep into the mouth of one follower after another, during a prayer gathering attended by '100 followers' on March 1 and March 8.Â
Â
Â
“It’s been confirmed that they put the nozzle of the spray bottle inside the mouth of a follower who was later confirmed as a patient, before they did likewise for other followers as well, without disinfecting the sprayer,” said Lee Hee-young, co-chief of the Gyeonggi Province COVID-19 Emergency Response team,
Â
“This made it inevitable for the virus to spread,” he said. “They did so out of the false belief that saltwater kills the virus.”
Â
The church has since been closed and all its believers who attended the prayer sessions are being tested.
Â
The church's pastor, identified as Kim, has apologized for the mass infection of his church members.
'I feel deeply sorry about what has happened. I will take all the blame and responsibility,' Kim told Yonhap News Agency, indicating his intention to retire after the ongoing crisis is over.Â
This comes a month after more than half of 4,000 coronavirus cases in South Korea was linked to Shincheonji cult, a secretive churchÂ
South Korea's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention reported 74 new cases on Monday, bringing its total tally to 8,236.Â
Â
Â