Government Advises Against Travel to Six Countries Including Singapore, Japan, and Thailand (Update)

Kim Kang-rip, Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The government has advised refraining from traveling to or visiting six countries?Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, and Taiwan?to prevent the domestic influx of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia).

Kim Kang-rip, Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (Vice Minister of Health and Welfare), stated at the regular briefing on the 11th, "Since these regions carry a risk of spreading the new infectious disease, please try to avoid traveling there, or if unavoidable, consider minimizing the travel duration and the number of people involved." He added, "We ask for cooperation to also minimize business trips by companies or schools and attendance at international seminars."

Deputy Head Kim also said, "If it is unavoidable to visit areas where patients have been reported, please strictly adhere to infectious disease prevention guidelines such as handwashing, avoid visiting crowded places, and take thorough measures to prevent infection yourself." He added, "Please pay attention to overseas safety messages or overseas safety travel broadcasts provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs."

The six countries recommended for minimizing travel and visits were based on regions where community transmission was confirmed by the World Health Organization (WHO) on the 9th. This is separate from the travel alert system issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The travel alert system is divided into ▲Level 1 (Travel Caution) ? personal safety and travel caution ▲Level 2 (Travel Restriction) ? special caution for personal safety and careful consideration of travel ▲Level 3 (Evacuation Recommendation) ? evacuation or cancellation of travel unless for urgent matters ▲Level 4 (Travel Ban) ? immediate evacuation, prohibition of travel and departure. Currently, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a Level 3 evacuation recommendation for Wuhan, China, the origin of the novel coronavirus outbreak, and a Level 2 travel restriction for China overall.

Deputy Head Kim explained, "Apart from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' travel alert system, we have added the travel and visit minimization recommendation to help citizens make informed decisions about overseas travel based on the risk of disease."