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A church in Incheon’s Bupyeong District where a COVID-19 patient attended a service is closed on June 1. (Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)

Religious gatherings are once again becoming epicenters for the transmission of infectious disease, with nearly 70 people since May diagnosed as having contracted COVID-19 through small gatherings and events at churches in the Seoul Capital Area (SCA). A death was also reported from a small gathering associated with the English Language Bible Study Association, a group for Christians in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Incheon is currently weighing whether to issue an assembly restriction order for all of its 4,234 religious facilities.

According to accounts from the city of Incheon on June 1, 28 people associated with “K,” a 57-year-old minister at a planted church in Incheon’s Bupyeong District, tested positive in Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon that day following her diagnosis the day before. Sixteen of them -- including K -- were found to be pastors, while five were family members and another eight congregation members.

The pastors and congregation members who tested positive had attended Bible studies and prayer services held at 13 small churches between May 25 and 28. K in particular visited four churches in Incheon’s Bupyeong and Michuhol Districts. The transmission route for her infection remains unknown. With at least 16 of the diagnosed patients being asymptomatic, an Incheon city official said there was a “possibility that K was not the spreader.”

Disease control authorities speculated that the virus’s transmission may have been accelerated by the conditions of small-scale planted churches, with gatherings taking place in confined spaces and large numbers of followers not wearing masks. Incheon, which is the place of residence for the largest portion of planted church-related patients at 24, is now considering whether to impose a two-week assembly ban on all religious facilities within its jurisdiction. If a ban is imposed, assemblies will only be possible when strict disease prevention rules are observed, including the use of masks at all times, sterilization and ventilation after gatherings, and a moratorium on gatherings involving young children and adolescents.

Eleven patients have also been diagnosed in connection with a group of pastors in Gunpo and Anyang, Gyeonggi Province, who traveled as a group to Jeju Island. Disease control authorities are speculating that the virus may have been spread at a gathering on Jeju from May 25 to 27, which was attended by 25 people from 12 churches. The 11 patients also included an elementary school student, a follower’s family member who did not participate in the trip.

The number of diagnoses associated with the English Language Bible Study Association rose to 14 as of June 1. One of the patients, a man in his 70s, died on May 24 -- four days after the first patient was diagnosed. A woman in her 80s is on a respirator in critical condition. Other patients include 11 people (including one family) in connection with Dongin Church in Seoul’s Gangnam District; nine in connection with Elim Church in Gumi, North Gyeongsang Province; and nine in connection with Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC). At Gachon University, an additional student was diagnosed on June 1 who was not acquainted with and whose activities did not overlap with two fellow students and CCC members who tested positive on May 30.

In what appeared to be a transmission related to a Coupang logistics center in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, another four patients were also diagnosed at Dongbu Church in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, bringing the total of related cases up to eight. As of noon on June 1, the number of patients diagnosed in connection with Coupang logistics centers stood at 112. The majority of cases were primary and secondary infections, with three tertiary infections identified.

In response to the recent spread of the virus at Bible studies and other small church gatherings and religious events, disease control authorities sent a message urging people to refrain from gatherings and substitute in-person meetings with remote ones. In particular, the measure was a reflection of the large number of churches that are not restricting the number of congregation members, including many that held services for children last weekend. Gyeonggi Province has imposed an assembly ban that extends for two weeks from June 1 to 14 for distribution warehouses, delivery logistics facilities, freight stations, call centers, funeral homes, and wedding halls.

By Choi Ha-yan, staff reporter, Lee Jung-ha, Incheon correspondent, Kim Gi-seong, South Gyeonggi correspondent, and Huh Ho-joon, Jeju correspondent

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