COVID-19: Super-spreader in South Korea may have infected 37+ people with the coronavirus

The next time someone tells you the new coronavirus is not that contagious and you should worry about the flu instead – tell them this. The most contagious disease in the world is Measles (RO 12-18) – and the highest number of people one person has ever likely infected was probably 32.

Why COVID-19 is super-contagious: A so-called super-spreader infected at least 37 people at her church with the new coronavirus, and dozens of additional worshipers are also showing symptoms of the disease, called COVID-19, according to news reports. The 61-year-old woman attends the Shincheonji Church of Jesus the Temple of the Tabernacle of the Testimony in Daegu, South Korea, according to the international news outlet AFP. The city, located in the southern part of the country, is home to about 2.5 million people. The woman, called “Patient 31” by Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, developed a fever on Feb. 10 and attended four church services before being diagnosed with COVID-19.

Despite running a fever, the woman twice refused to be tested for the coronavirus, as she had not recently traveled abroad, according to The Guardian. So far, she and 37 other members of the church have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, and 52 additional churchgoers have shown symptoms of infection but have not yet been tested. (SARS-CoV-2 is the name of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.) –Live Science