South Korean mayor tells 2.5 million to stay home as coronavirus cases surge
The mayor of the South Korean city of Daegu urged the city's 2.5 million people to stay home after a concentration of coronavirus cases broke out at a church where a woman continued attending services after developing symptoms, The Guardian reports. The number of cases linked to the churchgoer reached 49, nearly half of South Korea's new cases.
"We are in an unprecedented crisis," said the mayor, Kwon Young-jin. Schools in the city reportedly are considering delaying the start of the spring term, currently scheduled for early March. South Korea on Thursday reported its first death from the virus, the ninth outside of mainland China. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the man died in a hospital and posthumously tested positive for coronavirus.
A free daily email with the day’s biggest news and analysis – and the best features from TheWeek.com
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.
Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
Explore your latest briefing
-
-
talking pointsAfter Pike disaster, is it time to rethink death penalty? -
QUOTE OF THE DAY‘What it actually means in the American context is you want to replace American workers with foreign workers and you want boys to play in girls’ sports.’
-
the explainerJustice Dept. launches largest-ever effort to strip citizenship
-
Explore your latest briefing
-
-
talking pointsAfter Pike disaster, is it time to rethink death penalty? -
QUOTE OF THE DAY‘What it actually means in the American context is you want to replace American workers with foreign workers and you want boys to play in girls’ sports.’
-
the explainerJustice Dept. launches largest-ever effort to strip citizenship
-