80 countries, regions restricting entry from S. Korea over coronavirus fears
SEOUL, March 2 (Yonhap/APP):A total of 80 countries and regions are imposing entry bans or quarantine procedures on visitors from South Korea over new coronavirus fears on Monday, despite Seoul’s beefed-up diplomacy to prevent inordinate measures targeting its citizens.
As of 9:10 a.m., 36 countries and regions plan to ban or are barring the entry of travelers who have visited South Korea in the past two weeks, while 44 countries or regions are implementing quarantine procedures for them, according to the foreign ministry.
In Sunday’s tally, Angola was classified as a country enforcing both an entry ban and quarantine measures for visitors from Korea. But on Monday, the African country was listed only as a state imposing the entry ban.
The number of COVID-19 infections in South Korea has risen to 4,212 with 22 deaths, and the country is speeding up the testing process under an all-out campaign to stem the virus’ spread.
Pointing to the recent increase in entry restrictions, a senior Seoul official has said that relatively vulnerable countries with weak heath care systems appeared to have taken preemptive containment measures.
“The countries with vulnerable quarantine capabilities are anxious as they may find it difficult to put the virus under control if it flows in, and thus there has been an increase in the number of countries that have taken preemptive measures,” the official said.
“But the United States and Western Europe, except for Britain … They have few restrictions,” he added.
In China, 14 provinces and cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, have enforced strong quarantine measures against travelers from South Korea or parts of the country such as Daegu that have reported a cluster of virus infections.
The U.S. has yet to impose any entry restrictions for South Koreans. But the State Department has raised its travel advisory for Daegu to the highest level, which urges its people not to travel, citing the level of community spread of the virus.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday that people arriving in the U.S. “from certain designated high-risk countries or areas within those countries” will be screened both before leaving the country and when arriving.
Seoul has been beefing up diplomacy to persuade countries to not enforce entry restrictions, stressing its capacity to contain the virus.
