Apart from its followers, there aren’t many fans of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus at the moment.
Their Daegu branch first hit the headlines after one of their followers, a 61-year-old woman, refused twice to test for the coronavirus and even attended church services at least four times despite having symptoms typical of the disease.
The woman later tested positive for the virus on 18 Feb after which the number of cases in Daegu skyrocketed and the authorities started labelling her as a “super spreader”.
Then, news started emerging about the unorthodox church.
A Cult?
Shincheonji, which means “new heaven and earth” in Korean, has been described as an apocalyptic Christian group and branded a cult by some.
After Covid-19 started spreading, the church’s founder, 88-year-old Lee Man-hee, sent a message on an internal app used by followers saying “This disease case is seen as the devil’s deed to stop the rapid growth of Shincheonji”.
Moreover, some observers say that their the church’s unconventional practices could have contributed to the rapid spread of the disease.
Firstly, worshippers were reportedly forbidden to wear glasses or face masks.
Then, after the first coronavirus infection was reported among its members, they were told to lie about being followers.
Though the church later said that was not its policy, it’s hard to believe considering that at least 1,777 members of the Shincheonji cult who tested positive for Covid-19 have reportedly refused to receive treatment, claiming that receiving treatment is against their beliefs.
And what’s even worse is that another 1,000 of them are refusing to even be tested for the coronavirus.
I wonder why people think it’s a cult.
Some of these followers are so against treatment that they’re even willing to attack a nurse to get out of it.
Attacked a Nurse to Avoid Entering Treatment Centre
A Shincheonji Church follower ended up assaulting a nurse after refusing to enter a virus treatment centre in Daegu.
The 67-year-old woman was later caught by police officers.
The Shincheonji follower was supposed to be moved to the virus treatment centre operated by Kyungpook National University Hospital in Daegu after she was confirmed to be infected.
She was being moved from Daegu Medical Center, where she had been initially hospitalized.
However, wanting to be as stubborn as her fellow church members, the 67-year-old refused to be quarantined there.
So she politely asked if she could not be treated, officials politely declined, and she politely accepted their decision.
What actually happened was that she pulled the hair of a nurse who was wearing protective clothing and ran away.
Police officers were present, but they could not suppress the patient as they were not wearing protective clothing.
Cop-blocked by Covid-19.
Fortunately, after putting on protective clothing, the officers chased the patient and managed to catch her near Daegu Medical Center. She was hospitalized there again.
“We are investigating the details of the incident,” a Daegu city official said.
And she won’t get away with it either – health authorities are considering filing a complaint with the prosecution against her for obstruction of business, assault and a violation of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act.
Most of the Covid-19 cases are from Daegu
According to the Korea Times, while there are thousands of infected patients, most of the confirmed cases have occurred in Daegu, with a major cluster of infections linked to the Shincheonji Church.
Founder Lee Man-hee previously apologised for the national “calamity” he may have caused, but netizens were too angered by the gold watch he was wearing to accept his apology.
His apology might have come a little too late, however, and Lee might even face murder charges as the government of Seoul asked for a murder investigation into leaders of the Christian sect.
South Korea now has a total of 7,513 Covid-19 cases. 54 people have died from the disease so far.
On Tuesday (10 Mar), the Korean authorities reported fewer than 150 new cases for the first time in two weeks. So, it seems like things are improving.
As for the church and its followers, one can only hope they develop some rationality before they make things worse.
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