Church pastor at center of South Korea's latest Covid-19 cluster faces legal action

CNN's Max Foster shows us how one school in Scotland has prepared to reopen and the safety measures it has put in place.

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Public officials spray disinfectant near the Sarang-jeil church on August 16 in Seoul, South Korea. Park Dong-joo/Yonhap via AP

Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon of Sarang-jeil church has tested positive for Covid-19, according to Seoul's Seongbuk District office.

The district office says the authorities are in the process of getting in touch with Jun and once he is reached, he will be transported to a designated hospital.

Here's some background: Authorities in South Korea are pursuing legal action against Jun after 315 people connected to the parish tested positive for coronavirus.

A criminal complaint was filed Sunday against the pastor, accusing him of holding gatherings in violation of the city's infectious disease prevention law. Authorities in Seoul said that all 7,560 churches in the South Korean capital are barred from holding any gatherings due to the pandemic except for the usual weekly services, during which worshippers must abide by social distancing regulations.

Jun is a well-known anti-government activism leader and was arrested earlier this year for illegal campaigning in the general election.

He attended the banned anti-government rally held in the capital Saturday where he spoke without a mask. Thousands were in attendance.

Church's denial: At a news conference Monday, Sarang-jeil church's legal team denied the allegations of wrongdoing levied against the church and Rev. Jun. The church's representatives said that they had fully cooperated with the authorities and said they would be suing the government for defamation.

CNN's Paula Hancocks reports:

Actress Sharon Stone and sister Kelly Stone attend the 50th annual CMA Awards in Nashville, Tennessee, in 2016. Michael Loccisano/Getty Images

Actress Sharon Stone shared her sister's experience with Covid-19 on Instagram, and she said people who don't wear masks are to blame.

"One of you Non-Mask wearers did this," Stone said in a post Sunday.

Stone's post comes as more than 5.4 million people have been infected and 170,052 have died from the coronavirus in the United States, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Health officials have expressed concern that as the pandemic drags on, some Americans are becoming complacent with health precautions and allowing for more spread.

Stone's sister, Kelly, had lupus before being diagnosed with Covid-19, according to the post. Her sister has a weakened immune system and only went to the pharmacy before she was infected, Stone said.

Stone shared a picture she said was of her sister's hospital room.

"Can YOU FACE THIS ROOM ALONE?" she asked.

In a post on her own page, Kelly Stone said she had driven with her husband to Montana thinking they would avoid the virus. Now, she said, she is "fighting for a breath."

Stone called on her followers to abide by precautions against the virus's spread.

Read the full story here.

Shipping vessels from Evergreen Marine Corp and Hapag-Lloyd AG sit docked at the HHLA Container Terminal Burchardkai at the Port of Hamburg on August 5 in Hamburg, Germany. Alex Kraus/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Europe's plan to raise billions each year for coronavirus relief by charging ships for their pollution could inflame trade tensions at the worst moment for the global economy and set back efforts to tackle the climate crisis.

The European Commission is proposing to extend its Emissions Trading System (ETS) to shipping as one of a series of measures to help pay for rebuilding the EU economy, and to promote a green recovery from the crisis.

The European Union plans to spend 30% of its €750 billion ($889 billion) coronavirus recovery fund and next seven-year EU budget on climate-related projects in a bid to become the first carbon-neutral continent.

But the proposed shipping tax has run into fierce opposition from the industry, which says it would undermine efforts to tackle climate change at a global level and is likely to spark a backlash from non-EU countries, raising the specter of new trade disputes.

Read the full story here.

Customers have lunch at an outdoor dining area of a shopping mall on July 28 in Hong Kong. Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images

Social distancing measures -- including restrictions on dine-in services and mandatory face masks -- will be extended in Hong Kong until at least August 25, the city's Food and Health Bureau announced.

Hong Kong reported 44 new Covid-19 cases Monday, including 31 local infections and 13 imported cases, according to a daily health briefing.  

Among local infections on Monday, 20 cases are related to previous infections, of which 16 cases were transmitted within the family. Eleven cases are untraceable. The 13 imported cases are eight people from India, two Indonesian domestic helpers, two people from Russia and an aircrew member from Ethiopia.

Hong Kong's death toll remains at 69, and the number of cases stands at 4,524.

Big food and drink brands really want you to keep consuming what they make during the coronavirus pandemic, and they are coming up with some crafty ways to make it happen.

Impossible Foods became the latest major example of that on Monday. In an announcement shared exclusively with CNN Business, the company said it would start allowing restaurants in Hong Kong to resell their burgers in bulk directly to customers.

The move to start treating restaurants more like retailers is part of a broader shift as the industry scrambles to adapt to fallout from the pandemic. Other players, such as Shake Shack and Blue Bottle Coffee, have recently also rolled out new initiatives around the world to try to reach more customers as they spend more time at home.

Read the full story here:

More than 775,500 people have died from the coronavirus worldwide, while 21.6 million cases have been reported, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

Here’s the latest on the pandemic: 

Election delayed: New Zealand has postponed its general election for four weeks over coronavirus concerns -- despite only having 58 active cases in the community. The country of 5 million people -- which has been praised for its handling of the virus -- went around 100 days without any locally-transmitted cases, only to see a fresh outbreak last week.

Japan's worst GDP: Japan reported its worst GDP on record as the pandemic dented consumption. The world's third-largest economy shrank 7.8% in the second quarter compared with the previous quarter, the country's Cabinet Office said on Monday. The news comes as the country marks the fourth consecutive day of identifying more than 1,000 cases, with 1,020 new coronavirus cases and 11 deaths from Covid-19 Sunday, according to its Ministry of Health.

India’s death toll passes 50,000: The number of people who have died from Covid-19 in India topped 50,000 on Monday, according to the country’s Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Only the US, Brazil and Mexico have identified more Covid-19-related fatalities, according to JHU.

More than 300 people linked to church test positive: Authorities in South Korea are pursuing legal action against the pastor of the Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul after 315 people connected to the parish tested positive for Covid-19. A criminal complaint was filed Sunday against the church's leader, Rev. Jun Kwang-hoon, accusing him of holding gatherings in violation of the city's infectious disease prevention law.

Bolivia tops 100,000 cases amid protests over election: Bolivia became the latest country to pass 100,000 total Covid-19 infections Sunday after authorities reported another 1,198 cases of novel coronavirus and 55 new virus-related deaths. To date, 100,344 cases have been identified there, including 4,058 fatalities. Despite the increase in cases, protesters are still taking to the streets in opposition to the government's decision to delay presidential elections.

Health officials prepare Covid-19 tests from people at a makeshift clinic in Seoul, South Korea, on August 10. Ahn Young-joon/AP

South Korea identified 197 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the country's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Monday. 

South Korea is seeing a surge in new cases. Sunday was the third day in a row that cases crossed the triple-digit threshold, and 188 of the new infections were locally transmitted. On Saturday, authorities identified 279 Covid-19 cases, the highest number of infections reported in a single day since March.

Since the pandemic began, 15,515 cases of Covid-19 have been identified in South Korea, including 305 deaths.

The Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) is launching a new program "that will provide regular Covid-19 testing and contact tracing to school staff, students and their families," Superintendent Austin Beutner announced in a news release Sunday. 

Beutner called the effort "unprecedented" but necessary.

Los Angeles has been one of the cities hardest hit by the virus in the United States. As of the end of Sunday, nearly 222,000 people had contracted the virus and at least 5,254 had died.

The new program will begin testing on Monday. Staff members working at schools along with their children who participate in childcare provided by the district will be among the first group to be tested in the phased roll out of the program.

Eventually, all staff and students will be tested, which will be followed by periodic testing, the district said. LAUSD is also planning to provide testing to household members of staff and students who test positive or show symptoms. 

Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University and UCLA agreed to provide pro bono services of strategic interpretation of the testing evidence and epidemiological modeling. 

The data collected from the research will be available to the general public, the school system said in the announcement.