One Step Closer in the Fight Against the Coronavirus

    DAEGU, KOREA, July 14, 2020 /24-7PressRelease/ -- As doctors, scientists, and health officials all over the world are working desperately for a cure for COVID-19, help seems to be coming from an unlikely place. 500 members of the Daegu branch of Shincheonji church who have recovered from COVID-19 have volunteered to donate their blood plasma to help in the efforts to develop the cure.

From Feb 18th, when a member of Daegu church tested positive for the novel coronavirus, until July 13th the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea has increased to 6,812. Almost 62% of these, 4,265 cases arose among the members of Shincheonji. This large number of cases tied to Shincheonji early in the outbreak has ignited controversy around this non-traditional church.

In an effort to give back to the community and to help contain the spread of the coronavirus, Shincheonji's Daegu church announced that they are sponsoring an event to take place in front of the main building of Kyungbuk University Hospital in which 500 members who have recovered from COVID-19 will donate their blood plasma over the course of five days from July 13th to 17th.

Earlier, Shincheonji announced that 4000 members of Daegu church were willing to donate plasma for the sake of a cure, but the event was delayed because there were not enough blood mobiles to receive all the donations. In the meantime, Shincheonji's Daegu church announced that it is proceeding with an initial donation from 500 members with the help of the KCDC and the Korean Red Cross.

After a basic medical checkup, the process of plasma donation takes about 40 mins per person. One Shincheonji member stated, "This is small price to pay if we can help fight back against this deadly virus."

Shincheonji Daegu church stated, "We have 4000 members dedicated to donating their blood plasma, but because of physical limitations in making the donations, we are starting with 500 donations. We are currently discussing with the KCDC about how we can give more."

The KCDC is planning on using the plasma donations of recovered Shincheonji members in their efforts to develop a COVID-19 vaccine for clinical trials.

Shincheonji Daegu church stated, "We pray that these plasma donations will lead to progress in the global fight against this deadly pandemic."

Korea Broadcasting System News report
https://youtu.be/iFHXLCep7oc

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