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| Shincheonji Church Founder Lee Man-hee bows on his knees to apologize during a press conference at a church facility in Gapyeong, Gyeonggi Province, Monday./ Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
No. of patients reach 4,335, with 26 deaths
By Kim Se-jeong
The head of the Shincheonji Church apologized Monday for causing "grave concerns" to public health as the religious group's members account for nearly 60 percent of confirmed coronavirus patients in Korea.
In a rare press conference, Shincheonji founder Lee Man-hee said, "As the founder of the church, I apologize for what is happening. We didn't mean to create this mess, but a large number of patients are members of my church or those who came into contact with them."
"I did what I could do, but couldn't stop it all from spreading. I seek the forgiveness of citizens," he said before stepping aside from a dais and bowing while kneeling down.
"The government has done its utmost to prevent the virus from spreading from the Shincheonji Church in Daegu. We are fully cooperating to help it and will continue to do so by offering our resources. I never imagined this would happen. I don't know why this is happening. We are aware of our faults," Lee said.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 599 new COVID-19 infections Monday, pushing the total number of patients to 4,335 with 26 fatalities as of 10 p.m., Monday.
Vice Health Minister Kim Gwang-lip said the National Training Institute of Education, Science and Technology (NTEST), located in Daegu, was now ready to accept and treat coronavirus patients exhibiting minor symptoms.
The NTEST has 160 rooms and 17 medical service providers, including four doctors, who will reside there and provide full care to the patients.
Kim said two more such facilities ― the Samsung Educational Research Center in Yeongdeok County, North Gyeongsang Province, and Seoul National Hospital Training Center in Moonkyeong City, North Gyeongsang Province ― would house similar patients from sometime this week. The two can host a respective 203 and 100 patients.
Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province have insufficient hospital beds, and the health authorities there have been sending patients with minor COVID-19 symptoms home. According to Daegu City Government, more than 2,000 patients are at home, waiting to be admitted to medical facilities.
Patients with serious conditions are treated in specialized negative pressure areas to prevent any further spread of the virus within hospitals.
Experts said the number of the new coronavirus patients is likely to grow in the coming days as the authorities are still testing 210,000 members of the Shincheonji Church.
On Monday, the government said one Shincheonji member entered Korea from Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the virus Jan. 8, contradicting the church's statement that no members from Wuhan had entered Korea since December last year.
On Sunday, Seoul Mayor Park Won-sun filed a complaint against church leaders and Lee with the prosecution, claiming that they had committed willfully negligent homicide. Other members of the public have also asked the prosecution to act.
A petition to forcibly disband the church sect on a Cheong Wa Dae website has attracted more than 200,000 signatures, the threshold to get an official response from the presidential office.
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