A worker sprays disinfectant near the Daegu branch of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a national megachurch to which many of those diagnosed with Covid-19 have connections.
Photo: jung yeon-je/Agence France-Presse/Getty ImagesSouth Korea injected more than $13 billion in emergency funds to stoke economic activity sapped by the fast-spreading coronavirus, as China reported its lowest daily rise in new cases since it locked down the city where the epidemic started.
The Latest on the Virus
- South Korea reported 2,022 confirmed cases as of Friday morning. The tally has nearly doubled in just two days.
- Most of those infected in South Korea have ties to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a mysterious megachurch with more than 70 locations nationwide
- South Korea is planning to spend at least $13 billion, and possibly more, to cushion the virus’s blow to the economy.
- China’s National Health Commission said it logged 327 new infections across China on Thursday, the lowest daily total since Jan. 23.
South Korean Finance Minister Hong Nam-ki said Friday that the country would spend 16 trillion won ($13.19 billion) providing financial support to businesses and individuals suffering as economic activity nosedives. Mr. Hong said he would push the National Assembly to approve another 6 trillion won in emergency aid soon.
South Korea, the hardest-hit country apart from China, said it had 2,337 confirmed coronavirus patients as of Friday afternoon, up from the prior day’s 1,766. The tally has nearly doubled in just two days.
Officials in the city of Daegu and the nearby county of Cheongdo, where the country’s outbreak is concentrated, have complained about a severe shortage of staff, treatment facilities and supplies. A 75-year-old man diagnosed with the virus died Thursday after waiting for treatment as he was told to quarantine at home because of a lack of hospital beds. He was rushed to a hospital Thursday but died before he could be admitted. A 69-year-old woman who had been tested for the virus and quarantined at home died Friday morning. She was transported to an emergency room after experiencing difficulty breathing and tested positive for the virus after arriving at the hospital. The country’s other 12 virus-linked deaths were individuals being treated at hospitals.
“If we cannot stop the rise in Daegu, the situation will get out of hand and expand nationwide,” according to a statement by the metropolitan council of Daegu, South Korea’s fourth-largest city with 2.4 million people. Daegu said it has pleaded with the South Korean government multiple times for assistance.
Meanwhile, China on Friday continued to report a slowing spread of the epidemic, posting the lowest daily increase in Covid-19 cases since authorities locked down the central city of Wuhan—where the epidemic first emerged—in late January. The trend has bolstered Beijing’s optimism that its use of extraordinary quarantine measures is helping to contain the disease.
The National Health Commission said it logged 327 new infections across China on Thursday, the lowest daily total since Jan. 23, when officials imposed an unprecedented quarantine over the whole of Wuhan, a city of 11 million people. Hubei province, of which Wuhan is the capital, counted 318 new cases on Thursday—the lowest since Jan. 24.
The commission said Covid-19 claimed 44 lives on Thursday, raising China’s death toll to nearly 2,800.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in met with political leaders on Friday at the country’s National Assembly to discuss the creation of an emergency supplementary budget. Mr. Moon asked the National Assembly to support the increase in emergency funding for small businesses, especially in Daegu and its surrounding province.
“Our economy is taking a big hit. We are in a critical situation, but we can overcome it,” Mr. Moon said.
On Sunday, the Moon administration granted itself maximum authority to blunt further spread, allowing the government to inject emergency funds, lock down cities and exert more control on public transportation.
But the coronavirus has continued to proliferate. On Friday, Hyundai Motor Co., South Korea’s largest auto maker, said it would close one of its factories in the southeastern city of Ulsan, after an employee was diagnosed with Covid-19.
Most of the country’s diagnosed patients—including the 75-year-old man who died Thursday—have ties to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, a mysterious megachurch with more than 70 locations nationwide. Health officials have struggled to get an accurate list of Shincheonji’s full membership, which exceeds 200,000.
Daegu Mayor Kwon Young-jin said the city would take legal action against Shincheonji’s leadership for “omitting certain members” from a list provided to the government.
The South Korean government plans to test all of Shincheonji’s membership, and health officials expect the country’s virus total will continue to rise.
The Moon administration’s response has drawn criticism from citizens, opposition party members and a large physicians’ group. More than 1.2 million South Koreans have signed a petition to the presidential Blue House asking for Mr. Moon’s impeachment.
The Korean Medical Association, the country’s largest physician group, has urged the government to ban the entry of Chinese nationals. Choi Jae-wook, chairman of the KMA’s scientific review committee, said the Moon administration hasn’t been in clear enough communication with doctors and trust between the two sides has eroded.
“The current situation is chaos,” Dr. Choi said. “The government has not heard our voice.”
The Seoul government has attributed the virus’s spread to South Koreans who traveled to China. It has pledged to send hundreds of more doctors and nurses to the Daegu area and has curbed face-mask exports through the end of April to address a nationwide shortage.
—Timothy W. Martin contributed to this article.
Write to Dasl Yoon at dasl.yoon@wsj.com and Chun Han Wong at chunhan.wong@wsj.com
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