South Korean Church Infects Members With Coronavirus After Spraying Saltwater In Their Mouths (Video)

A South Korean church, River of Grace Community Church has been struck with Coronavirus after 46 members, including the pastor and his wife were infected with the virus, a local news agency has reported.

According to the reports, church officials sprayed saltwater into the mouths of worshipers that attended church services on March 1 and 8, which contributed to the cluster infection of members.

Surveillance footage from the Church in Gyeonggi Province, south of Seoul, shows a church official sticking the spray bottle deep into the mouth of one follower after another, during a prayer gathering attended by ‘100 followers’.

“It’s been confirmed that they put the nozzle of the spray bottle inside the mouth of a follower who was later confirmed as a patient, before they did likewise for other followers, without disinfecting the sprayer,” said Lee Hee-young, co-chief of the Gyeonggi Province COVID-19 Emergency Response team,

“This made it inevitable for the virus to spread,

“They did so out of the false belief that saltwater kills the virus.”

The church has since been closed and all its members are being tested.

The church’s pastor, identified as Kim, has apologized for the mass infection of his church members.

“I feel deeply sorry about what has happened. I will take all the blame and responsibility,’ Kim told Yonhap News Agency, indicating his intention to retire after the ongoing crisis is over. 

This is coming a month after more than half of 4,000 coronavirus cases in South Korea was linked to Shincheonji cult, a secretive church 

South Korea’s Centre for Disease Control and Prevention reported 74 new cases on Monday, bringing its total tally to 8,236.