For its part, the Temple issued a statement asking critics to stop hurling “hatred and groundless accusations at them,” since its members, like others who have been sickened, were “victims of the disease which originated in China and was transmitted to this country.”
But people say that the information provided by Shincheonji doesn’t include its “bible study rooms” and “undercover churches,” where people sit so closely packed together that they can rub shoulders with one another while praying.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in said the emergence of so many coronavirus cases centered on the church had led to a “completely new situation” in the nation’s fight to control the spread of the disease, the Post reported.
South Korea didn’t enforce strict travel restrictions in the early stages of the epidemic
Officials have faced backlash for not enforcing more stringent restrictions and only stopping travelers from Hubei province in China from entering South Korea. This could have enabled people who picked up the infection elsewhere to enter the country without any hassle.
“It is like claiming that the gatekeeping is being done well without knowing that your back door is still left open,” Dr. Lee Hoanjong, a professor at Seoul National University Children’s Hospital, told the Post.
“Medical staff and health infrastructure in Daegu are now being stretched to a breaking point. If we have another Daegu in this country, I can’t imagine what would happen.”