Coronavirus: Chinese students in South Korea advised to take leave of absence, as cases rise
- South Korea now has 30 confirmed infections, the latest being the wife of Case 29, a man who had not recently travelled abroad or met any other virus patients
- Ahead of school reopening in March, Chinese students who have not yet flown to South Korea have been advised to take online classes or skip the first semester
The country’s latest case, a 68-year-old woman, is the wife of Case 29. Her husband tested positive on Sunday.
The 82-year-old man was not known to have recently travelled abroad or been in contact with anyone diagnosed with the Covid-19 disease.
“The wife had been in self-quarantine and transferred to a hospital for monitoring and treatment,” Korea Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.
The KCDC said Case 29 first visited a local hospital in his neighbourhood on Saturday, and went to an emergency centre for a heart problem the next day at Korea University Anam Hospital, where he tested positive for the coronavirus. The emergency centre is now closed.
The health agency said the man did not go to a separate screening clinic to be checked for the virus because he had no symptoms fever or respiratory problems when he arrived at the emergency centre.
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He is now under quarantine at Seoul National University Hospital.
The health agency has been struggling to find out how the couple contracted the virus amid concerns the infection could spread rapidly among the general public.
“Chinese students still in China will be recommended to take online courses or to take a leave of absence for the first semester if they have visa problems or don’t have a domestic residence in Korea,” Education Minister Yoo Eun-hae said during a press briefing in Seoul.
Coronavirus: South Korea to evacuate citizens from Diamond Princess
“The government plans to bring those Koreans home if they are tested negative from screenings by the Japanese authorities and are willing to return,” Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo told a briefing.
The United States, Canada and Hong Kong have said they will send flights to fetch residents from the ship.
Two US government-chartered planes carrying some 400 American citizens from the Diamond Princess left Tokyo’s Haneda airport early on Monday morning.
Additional reporting by Reuters
