South Korea: Women infected with nCoV still attend church services, leaving hundreds of Tan Thien Dia members at risk of becoming a new case.

South Korea today recorded a total of 156 nCoV infections, of which at least 43 people were infected by a 61-year-old woman called "Patient 31", living in Daegu, 240 km southwest of Seoul.

She was hospitalized on February 8 due to a traffic accident and was recommended by doctors to perform the nCoV test but refused. Two days later, she started to have a fever but still refused to test because she thought she had not recently gone abroad. During that time, she attended the Shincheonji Church (Tan Thien Dia) in the city of Daegu four times, before being confirmed to be infected with nCoV on February 18.

The fact that Korean medical experts suspected this "super infection" made the Tan Thien Dia cult became a focus of attention.

In 1984, Lee Man-hee, a man born in 1931 in the city of Cheongdo, North Gyeongsang Province, proclaimed that he was a prophet of God and Jesus appeared brightly before his eyes. Lee later established the New Heavenly sect and mainly engaged followers in cafes and other churches.

To date, the cult founded by Lee Man-hee has attracted about 200,000 members. Lee said that he assumed the responsibility of the Lord and was able to save 144,000 people during the Day of Judgment by taking them to heaven.

"The followers of Tan Thien Dia do not even inform their family members about their joining the sect," said priest Shin Hyun-wook, an anti-heresy activist in Korea. "These people believe that they are immune to disease because they will be immortal. Only the unbelievers will get sick and die."

The New Heavenly Yard is a controversial organization and has been condemned by heretics, including Protestants, Catholics and Orthodox churches in South Korea.

This sect declares the Bible to be written in a metaphorical way and only Lee can explain it and understand it. In November 2016, the British Church warned 500 parishes in London about the activities of its new Tan Thien Dia branch, called Parachristo, registered as a charity in the UK.

Now, the sect is in danger of becoming an "outbreak" when about 1,100 people from various provinces of South Korea have attended church prayers with Patient 31.

Of these, about 90 have developed symptoms of a viral infection, while South Korean health officials have yet to contact nearly 396 people.

South Korean health officials have asked thousands of cult followers to quarantine themselves by staying indoors, avoiding family contact, Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin said.

Jung Eun-kyeong, director of the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), urged people who came to the church to report to the authorities if they had symptoms. Tan Thien Dia has decided to close facilities across South Korea, stop church services and replace them with online prayer.

Pastor Shin is concerned that there are many other infections involving this sect because of the "missionaries" here.

"This sect sends its recruiters to other Christian churches, taking part in the prayers there to invite ordinary believers to join," he said. "I doubt whether they will disclose information about the movement of believers who have been in contact with Patient 31 and cooperated with the authorities in their search, as doing so would reveal the The organization's secret mission. This is really a disturbing situation. "

A believer told local newspaper Nocut News that Patient 31 had close contact with others in the prayers on February 9 and 16. Officials are investigating these two ceremonies.

Tan Thien Dia's church in Daegu is located in an 8-story building. Married women gather on the 4th floor, married men are on the 7th floor, and unmarried people are on the 8th floor. During the prayers, the believers sat so close to each other that they "shoulder to shoulder". , "raise your voice for 30 minutes" to praise the Lord and listen to the lecture for an hour.

Afterwards, they sat in small groups chatting, while women organized eating and drinking together. People who wear masks to prevent nCoV "are asked to remove them when attending prayers," the followers describe.

Tan Thien Dia said sectarian leaders have been urging believers to stay home from the end of January if they have recently gone abroad or feel unwell. They criticized what people perceived as "the main culprit for nCoV infection", and rejected the organization as a "heresy", saying it was a false allegation.

Park Hyung-tak, head of the Korean Christian Heresy Research Institute, said that while a large number of nCoV infections occur in the sect, it is most likely not affecting faithful loyalty. thing.

"Most believers see the church becoming an outbreak as a test of their faith," Park said. This group considers them to be "chosen" and "favored by the Lord".