South Korea Church Sprays Salt Water Into Followers’ Mouths To Prevent Covid-19; 46 Got Infected Instead

The coronavirus seems to have quite a sick sense of humour.

I’ll give you an example: Iran’s Deputy Health Minister tested positive for the COVID-19, which was announced a day after he took to the TV screen to reassure the public that they had things under control.

While he was on TV, he also appeared weak and was coughing. Isn’t the health minister supposed to be… healthy? You can watch the video here.

It seems like the COVID-19 isn’t done playing games:

South Korea Church Sprays Salt Water Into Followers’ Mouths To Prevent Covid-19; 46 Got Infected Instead

Sorry, what?

Do you mean to tell me that they tried to prevent the transmission of the COVID-19, but their attempts only caused more people to have the virus?

Seems like that happened.

A South Korean church has been plagued by the COVID-19, and this includes the pastor and his wife. In fact, at least 46 people have been infected with the virus after the gathering.

I’m now absolutely convinced that it takes just ONE wrong move for things to go awry in the virus department.

The huge blunder occurred because an official failed to wipe a saltwater spray bottle which they sprayed inside the mouths of churchgoers to “protect” them.

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At first, only six people including the pastor of River of Grace Community Church in Seongnam near Seoul tested positive for COVID-19 after the church gathering occurred on 8 March.

However, on Monday, it was revealed by the government that as many as 40 more people had also been infected with the coronavirus.

Surveillance camera footage that was released by Seongnam province showed church officials spraying salt water into the mouths of all church members before they attended the 1 March and 8 March services.

It is understood that they had hoped it would help to disinfect the church members and “kill the virus“.

It’s ironic that they had tried to disinfect people, only to accidentally infect them with the virus instead.

In the video, officials can be seen sticking the nozzle of a spray bottle deep into the mouth of one follower after another during the prayer gathering.

“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, head of Gyeonggi Province’s coronavirus task force.

The church has around 135 followers, 90 of which was present at the service. However, all 135 followers were tested for the COVID-19.

Pastor Apologises

The church’s pastor, only known as Kim has graciously apologised for the gathering which led to the infection of many 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.

But what really highlights how severe this tragedy was is the fact that Kim announced his intention to retire after the crisis is over.

This will be the second-largest cluster in South Korea’s capital after a Seoul insurance call centre reported 129 infections.

Every Sunday, around 100 followers would gather at the church’s chapel that measures around 100 square metres on the third floor every Sunday. On weekdays, the church was visited by 20 to 30 followers.

The Situation in South Korea

South Korea on Monday reported 74 new cases of the coronavirus. In total, there are 8,236 confirmed cases.

The good news is that this is the second consecutive day that the reported number of new cases is less than 100.

A Seongnam resident said, “All large-scale churches in Seongnam have suspended physical worship services, but the River of Grace Community Church had pushed ahead with its Sunday gathering for two weeks, despite protests from neighbours.”

In short, you can try everything you want to prevent Covid-19 but one mustn’t forget the basics: Keeping respiratory droplets away from the face.