South Korea raises disease alert level to ‘highest’ as coronavirus cases surge
- South Korea on Sunday reported 169 new cases of coronavirus and four new deaths, in the largest number of confirmed infections outside China
- The outbreak can largely be traced to a religious sect in Daegu, the nation’s fourth-largest city
The country has seen a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases since a cluster of infections emerged from a religious sect in the southern city of Daegu.
Professor David Hui Shu-cheong, an infectious disease expert at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said Hong Kong might consider issuing travel advice on South Korea, but in the meantime any Hongkongers planning to visit “should wear masks and be vigilant about personal hygiene”.
“The government could consider asking travellers from Korea and Japan to fill in a health declaration as a precaution,” he said. “The cases in Japan are mostly to do with the Diamond Princess cruise ship, while those in South Korea are to do with some church gatherings in two regions. South Korea is still working to contain the virus, so asking people to avoid going there will do, unless there is a more serious outbreak.”
Hong Kong’s Security Bureau has not issued a travel alert for South Korea or Japan despite the rise in infections, but said it would issue an outbound travel alert, on the advice of the Food and Health Bureau, “should there be public health reasons” to do so.
