World
South Korea Signals Unprecedented Steps to Contain Outbreak
- Government raises infectious-disease alert to highest level
- Country experiences 20-fold increase in cases in five days
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South Korean President Moon Jae-in raised the country’s infectious-disease alert level to the highest and signaled the potential for unprecedented steps to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has killed six and infected hundreds.
The government ordered that schools delay resuming lessons after a holiday break as more than 600 people were confirmed to have been infected, a 20-fold surge in reported cases over five days. More than half are linked to members of Shincheonji Church of Jesus, an opaque religious sect, while almost an entire hospital psychiatric ward of over 110 patients and staff tested positive for the virus.