France's 'Religious Group Infection Crisis'... Overseas Churches Also Face Mass Infection Emergency

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Dong-pyo]

Religious group gatherings are becoming a catalyst for the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) overseas as well.

The Washington Post (WP) in the United States, citing French health officials on the 2nd (local time), raised the possibility that an annual prayer meeting held at a Christian evangelical church in Mulhouse, eastern France, at the end of February this year was the "culprit" behind the spread of COVID-19.

According to the report, public health officials suspect that the prayer meeting, which gathered about 2,500 people, was one of the largest clusters of infections in France and the starting point that spread the virus beyond France to overseas.

At the time the prayer meeting was held for five days from February 17, there were only 12 confirmed COVID-19 cases across France, and none in the Alsace region where Mulhouse is located.

The first confirmed case in Alsace appeared on February 29. The confirmed patient was the mother of children who had attended the Mulhouse prayer meeting with their grandparents, but she herself did not attend the meeting.

Two days later, on March 2, a male confirmed case was reported in N?mes, France, 624 km away from Mulhouse, and this man was also confirmed to have attended the prayer meeting.

Local health authorities realized that the prayer meeting was the source, but it was already too late to fundamentally block the spread.

The COVID-19 that spread through the prayer meeting was traced to places such as Orl?ans, Dijon, Besan?on, and M?con, where no COVID-19 infections had previously been reported.

A nurse in Strasbourg, after attending the prayer meeting, transmitted the virus to fellow nurses working at a local hospital. This led to about 250 people being infected in the area.

Three retirees living on the French island of Corsica also became spreaders after attending the prayer meeting. In Corsica, 263 people were confirmed with COVID-19, and 21 died.

The virus that began spreading at the prayer meeting extended even to the African continent.

Mamadou Karam Biri, a famous pastor in Burkina Faso, West Africa, and his spouse became the first and second confirmed cases in their country after attending the prayer meeting.

Currently, Burkina Faso has 261 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 14 deaths.

Major foreign media reported the matter, describing it as a "case similar to South Korea's 'Shincheonji'." The foreign media explained, "A large religious group in South Korea caused over 5,000 infections," calling it an example showing the speed and aggressiveness of COVID-19 transmission.

In India, a Muslim missionary group has been identified as a major cause of COVID-19 spread.

On the 2nd, the Indian Ministry of Health announced that among 389 new confirmed cases in India, 134 were related to the Muslim missionary group 'Tablighi Jamaat (TJ),' according to the local Indian media Times of India.

TJ held its annual event for about ten days from the 3rd of last month at a mosque (Islamic place of worship) in Delhi, India. It is estimated that about 7,600 Indians and 1,300 foreigners participated in this event. Local media reported that since the foreign attendees have already left India, the spread of COVID-19 is expected to continue worldwide.