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South Koreans evacuated from Wuhan disembark from a chartered flight in Seoul. Photo: AP

Coronavirus: South Korea, Thailand confirm cases of human transmission

  • 11 new cases emerged after 368 South Koreans were evacuated from Wuhan to two facilities in Asan and Jincheon, cities about 80km south of Seoul
  • A Thai taxi driver is the first confirmed case of person-to-person transmission of the coronavirus inside the country
South Korea on Friday confirmed five more cases of the deadly coronavirus, bringing the total in the country to 11, including two people who returned from Wuhan via the eastern Chinese port city of Qingdao last week.

South Korea and Thailand have also confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission, as four individuals contracted the virus without travelling to China, according to Seoul and Bangkok’s health officials.

In Seoul, one of them was a man in his 50s who developed symptoms after dining with South Korea’s third confirmed patient at a restaurant in the capital.

The first patient to contract the virus inside Thailand was a local taxi driver, said Tanarak Pipat, deputy director-general of the Department of Disease Control.

“The Thai person who got infected does not have a record of travelling to China and it is likely that he was infected from a sick traveller from China,” Tanarak said.

The taxi driver was one of five other coronavirus cases confirmed in Thailand on Friday.

The new South Korean cases emerged after 368 of the country’s citizens were evacuated to two facilities in Asan and Jincheon, cities about 80km south of Seoul, where they will be isolated.

The country is set to send a second flight to Wuhan to evacuate some 300 more Korean citizens in the coming days.

A total of 18 South Korean evacuees who arrived from Wuhan have been hospitalised after showing symptoms, Seoul’s health authorities said on Friday, as concerns mount about a wider outbreak of the virus.

“The 350 people, who are asymptomatic … will be staying at temporary facilities,” vice health minister Kim Gang-lip told reporters. “During the 14 days, residents won’t be allowed to leave the facility and any visits from outsiders will be banned completely.”

There was initial backlash against the government’s quarantine plans and residents accosted Kim earlier this week. However, on Friday several hundred police officers were on hand at the facilities in Asan and Jincheon and there was no major rally.

As the buses carrying the evacuees arrived in Asan escorted by police cars and disinfection trucks, some residents held signs saying “Hope you have a good rest in Asan” and “We will pray for the people suffering from the new coronavirus”.

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The South Korean government has warned it will crack down on any “fake news” about the disease and distributed infographics on Twitter on Friday to dispel some unverified rumours.

In one image, it refuted a claim that a person can contract the virus by eating Chinese kimchi, saying it is “extremely low” risk for the virus to survive lengthy import procedures even if any products contain it. The health ministry also made clear that kimchi was not a wonder drug and would provide no protection against the virus.

In response to the coronavirus crisis, North Korea postponed plans to tear down South Korean-made hotels and other facilities at the North’s Diamond Mountain resort to prevent the spread of a new virus that has reached the South after sickening thousands in China.

The North’s decision, which was conveyed to the South through a fax message, came as it intensifies precautions against the outbreak, including blocking tourists, reducing flights and mobilising screening efforts in a nationwide campaign state media described as a matter of “national existence”.

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North Korea had earlier demanded South Korea send workers to Diamond Mountain at an agreed upon date to clear out the facilities.

The outbreak has prompted North Korea to declare a state emergency, though it is unclear whether there are any confirmed cases in the isolated nation.

Meanwhile, Japan accelerated its time frame for the virus to become a “designated infectious disease” as its third chartered flight with evacuees arrived home. Japan now has 17 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus, an epidemic believed to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Two of those returned on the first chartered flight and had shown no symptoms.

The government classified the new coronavirus a designated infectious disease on Tuesday but the designation will take effect on Saturday rather than the original date of February 7. The designation allows compulsory hospitalisation and the use of public funds for treatment, among other measures.

The third flight out of Wuhan, which arrived on Friday morning, brought the total number of Japanese evacuees to 565.

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The Japanese Foreign Ministry on Friday urged its citizens not to travel to China and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tokyo will deny entry to holders of Chinese passports issued in Hubei province.

Foreign nationals who have stayed in Hubei two weeks before they wish to visit Japan will also be denied entry from Saturday.

The government has come under fire in parliament and on social media over what critics say is inept handling of the returned Japanese, such as allowing two asymptomatic people from the first flight to refuse testing and “self quarantine”, although by Friday they had consented to tests.

Health minister Katsunobu Kato told a parliamentary committee that Japan was doing everything possible and would change its response if conditions changed.

“We still don’t know how strongly contagious this is … we understand that everybody is concerned,” he said, but warned there were limits to what the government could do while still respecting human rights.

Residents in the South Korean county of Jincheon protest government quarantine plans. photo: EPA

Epidemiologist David Fisman, a professor at the University of Toronto, said that although there are more than 90 cases around the world outside China, the number of secondary cases there remains fewer than 10.

“That means the reproduction number outside China is currently less than 0.1. Diseases do not spark epidemics unless reproduction numbers are over 1,” he said. “I realise this is an anxiety-provoking time. This is scary for everyone.”

In New Zealand, officials on Friday said a patient has been tested for the coronavirus. If confirmed, it would be New Zealand’s first case.

“They have a special isolation room in the hospital and it has what’s called ‘negative pressure ventilation’. That basically stops the possibility of the virus being carried out in the air,” director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield said.

Additional reporting by Reuters, Kyodo and Associated Press

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