HCMC religious mission faces criminal charge for spreading COVID-19

The Go Vap District Investigation Police Agency under the Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) Police Department on May 30 decided to prosecute a criminal case related to the COVID-19 infection cluster at “Hoi thanh truyen giao Phuc Hung” (Revival Ekklesia Mission).

Accordingly, the agency will prosecute a criminal case related to the COVID-19 infection cluster at Revival Ekklesia Mission in order to investigate the act of “spreading dangerous infectious diseases in humans” under Article 240 of the revised 2017 Criminal Code.

From May 26-29, HCMC has recorded 98 COVID-19 cases, in which more than 60 cases linked to this COVID-19 infection cluster. Initial investigation results showed that the religious group failed to abide by COVID-19 prevention and control regulations, leading to the transmission of the disease to a large number of people.

According to Mr. Nguyen Duy Tan, head of the religious affairs division at the city Department of Home Affairs, this religious group has license to operate since 2006. The Revival Ekklesia Mission is managed by pastor Phuong Van Tan and his wife Vo Xuan Loan.

The group organizes activities every Sunday. It has a registered membership of 48 people, but after a period of operation, the number of members gradually decreased to 28. However, the HCM City Centre for Disease Control (HCDC) said that the actual number of participants might be more. 

Members of the mission, which describes itself as a Christian congregation and a non-denominational, evangelical, charismatic church, usually gather in a small house in a narrow alley in Go Vap’s Ward 3. They did not wear face masks in recent gatherings, investigation found.

Infections were first detected there on Wednesday after three members of this religious group sought health checks after developing respiratory conditions.

Noticeably, contact tracing found that the pastor’s wife, 65, was in Hanoi from April 23 to 29. She developed symptoms on May 13 but did not get herself checked, and instead continued to take part in the mission’s activities along with her husband.

Genetic sequencing done on five of the patients in the cluster found they had the highly transmissible B.1.617.2 variant first found in India. With the faster-spreading Indian coronavirus variant involved in the outbreak associated with this group, the number of cases has increased fairly quickly.

According to Prof. Dr. Nguyen Tan Binh, Director of the Department of Health of HCMC, this cluster may have undergone two cycles of infection and the virus might also spread widely in the community. The number of COVID-19 cases might continue to increase because many members of the Revival Ekklesia Mission have not declared their health status.

The latest report from HCDC showed that, as of 9am on May 30, 33 more COVID-19 cases related to the cluster had been confirmed, raising the total number of infections linked to the Revival Ekklesia Mission to 126. So far, HCMC has reported 133 COVID-19 cases since May 27.

By A.N

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