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Sanitation workers disinfect the River of Grace Community Church in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, where a transmission cluster of 46 novel coronavirus patients was confirmed, on Mar. 16. (Yonhap News)

The number of COVID-19 cases connected with the River of Grace Community Church in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, has risen to 50, representing the second major transmission cluster in the Greater Seoul area, following an outbreak at a call center in Seoul’s Guro District. The public health authorities are emphasizing the need to implement social distancing measures as clusters of infections continue to occur at churches and other facilities while calling for people to build a long-lasting “new routine” to ensure they’re abiding by quarantine rules in their everyday lives.

South Korea’s Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (KCDC) announced that, as of Mar. 17, 12:00 am, the cumulative cases of COVID-19 in the country had risen to 8,320. There were 84 new cases from the previous day, and 264 more people being released from quarantine. While the rate of new cases has slowed overall, there continue to be sporadic outbreaks of the disease at churches and other locations. Between Mar. 9 and Mar. 17, a total of 50 cases had been diagnosed in connection with the River of Grace Community Church in Seongnam.

“After six cases turned up, we initiated an epidemiological survey of all 135 church members who attended services on Mar. 1 and 8. So far, 98 people have been tested, with 40 people being found positive,” said KCDC spokesperson.

According to officials from Gyeonggi Province and Seongnam, the outbreak at this church was exacerbated by the “physical environment” of a church service being held in a closed environment and the “false information” that saltwater helps prevent COVID-19. The church occupies part of the third and four floors in an old commercial building in downtown Seongnam, with the space on each floor measuring about 116 square meters. The auditorium is located on the third floor, with a cafeteria and break room on the fourth floor. About 100 of the 130 total church members gathered in this cramped space every weekend for services, followed by a meal together.

Officials say that people who attended the services had salt water sprayed into their mouths, on the understanding that this would disinfect them. “After analyzing security camera footage of services at the church, we determined that church leaders used spray bottles to spray salt water into the mouths of people attending the service. The footage shows that they used the same bottle to spray other people in the mouth without disinfecting it, so there’s bound to be more people testing positive,” said Lee Hui-yeong, head of the province’s emergency task force for fighting COVID-19.

Some residents of Baekhyeon neighborhood in the Bundang District who came into contact with members of the church have also been diagnosed with the disease, raising concerns about secondary transmission.

Although the public health authorities have asked religious organizations to refrain from holding services or other gatherings, some churches have insisted on continuing services, which seems to be driving cluster infections. On Mar. 8, the South Korean government and Gyeonggi Province asked churches not to hold services, but according to a survey carried out by the province, 2,635, or 40%, of 6,578 churches there held services on Mar. 15.

“The rate of transmission was 40% at branches of the Shincheonji sect and at Water of Life Church in Bucheon and over 30% at the River of Grace Community Church in Seongnam. Religious services are very dangerous, since a single patient can infect 30 or 40 people,” said KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong, urging people to remain on guard about churches and other facilities where large groups of people congregate.

“We need to improve working patterns and conditions at each workplace, organization, and school so that the culture of showing up even when you’re sick gives way to a culture of staying home when you’re sick. We need to keep our cool and go about building a new routine in which it goes without saying that we abide by quarantine rules in our everyday lives,” Jung emphasized.

By Park Hyun-jung, staff reporter, and Kim Gi-seong, South Gyeonggi correspondent

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