Covid-19 novel Coronavirus update 1st March: South korea cases pass 3700

#Coronavirus_Outbreak #Coronavirus_update #South_korea_news
china - 79 827 case
Australia - 23 case
Belgium - 1 case
Bahrain - 38 case
cambodia 1 case
canada 14 case
Afghanistan 1 case
Macau 10 case
Hong Kong 94 case
Egypt 1 case
findland 2 case
France 57 case
Germany 57 case
india 3 case
iran 593 case
irag 13 case
Israel 2 case
italy 1228 case
Japan 236 and 705 case
kuwait 45 case
lebanon 7 case
malaysia 24 case
nepal 1 case
oman 6 case
philippines 5 case
Russia 2 case
singapore 98 case
South korea 3150 case
sri lanka 1 case
taiwwan 39 case
thailand 42 case
United kingdom 20 case


Churches have been closed in South Korea as authorities fight to rein in public gatherings after 586 new coronavirus infections took the tally to 3736 cases.

That came a day after the biggest daily jump of 813 cases in South Korea's battle with the largest virus outbreak outside China, the Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said.

The death toll rose to 20, up from 17 the day before.

In Seoul about a dozen worshippers were turned away from the Yoido Full Gospel Church on Sunday.


Instead the church put a sermon for its 560,000 followers on YouTube, filmed with a small choir instead of all 200 members and 60-strong orchestra.

Authorities have warned of a "critical moment" in the battle against the virus, urging people to refrain from attending religious services and political events and stay home this weekend.

For the first time in its 236-year history, South Korea's Catholic church decided to halt masses at more than 1700 locations nationwide.

Buddhist temples also called off events, while major Christian churches held online services.

Of the new cases, 333 were from the southeast city of Daegu, the location of a church at the centre of the outbreak, and 26 from the nearby province of North Gyeongsang, KCDC said.

The agency said some church members in January visited the central Chinese city of Wuhan, where the disease emerged late last year, adding it was investigating to determine if the trip played a role in the outbreak.

"We're tracing back how many members had gone to China," KCDC deputy director Kwon Jun-wook told a briefing.

"Our top priority is to find out how the coronavirus has been transmitted so widely among the Shincheonji followers," he added, in a reference to the church involved.

The numbers of cases was likely to continue growing in early March, he added, pledging greater efforts to rein in key infection sources.

The church's founder and chairman, self-proclaimed messiah Lee Man-hee, was tested for the virus on Saturday and is awaiting results, the Yonhap news agency reported on Sunday, citing a church official.