Virus cases balloon in S. Korea as outbreak shifts, spreads

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP

By HYUNG-JIN KIM and MATT SEDENSKY

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — Schools were shuttered, churches told worshipers to stay away and some mass gatherings were banned as cases of a new virus swelled Friday in South Korea, the newest front in a widening global outbreak.

The country said two people have died and 204 have been infected with the virus, quadruple the number of cases it had two days earlier, as a crisis centered in China has begun strongly reverberating elsewhere.

The multiplying caseload in South Korea showed the ease with which the illness can spread. Though initial infections were linked to China, new ones have not involved international travel.

“We have entered an emergency phase,” Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun said in televised comments at the start of a government meeting on the health emergency. “Our efforts until now had been focused on blocking the illness from entering the country. But we will now shift the focus on preventing the illness from spreading further in local communities.”


Read more: https://apnews.com/52916125b486708cad26557a02ca9b7f

[iluvtennis]

1. wow - 2 people dead and 204 more infected with coronavirus within 2 days. nt

[yaesu]

2. another YUGE economy about to go under, the domino effect will end our YUGE economy. nt

[mitch96]

3. And we havn't heard a PEEP from North Korea...... I bet it's running rampant... nt

[NickB79]

5. Mandatory body cremation has been instituted in NK, with multiple reports of unusual deaths

https://thediplomat.com/2020/02/north-koreas-bizarre-strategies-for-tackling-the-coronavirus-outbreak/

The latest example is Pyongyang’s decision to make cremation mandatory in the country. North Korea’s central government reportedly ordered health and local authorities to burn all dead bodies, according to a North Korea-based source who spoke to Daily NK.

It is not uncommon to burn dead bodies to kill any viruses carried by the deceased, but residents in the North are unhappy with the decision since the government is preventing them from having a funeral and cremation is now mandatory regardless the cause of the death. In a country that still practices many Confucian-based death rituals, required cremation makes mourning difficult.

[soryang]

4. 85 percent of the new South Korean cases are related to the cult in Daegu

70 percent of all cases in South Korea are related to this organization. KBS reported four new cases related to their facility in Kwangju.