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Third batch of Wuhan evacuees arrive in Korea

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Buses carrying evacuees from Wuhan, China, arrive at the Korea Defense Language Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. /Yonhap
Buses carrying evacuees from Wuhan, China, arrive at the Korea Defense Language Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday. /Yonhap

By Kim Se-jeong

The third batch of evacuees from Wuhan in China, numbering 147, arrived in Korea, Wednesday, and all, but seven, were moved to the Korea Defense Language Institute in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province for a two-week-long quarantine.

The government has now evacuated 848 people from Wuhan, the epicenter of the new coronavirus outbreak, while around 90 Koreans remain there with no plan to leave according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The seven who showed symptoms of coronavirus infection at the airport were sent to the National Medical Center for more tests and will join the others if the results are negative.

As of Wednesday, there have been confirmed 28 cases of coronavirus infection here with 992 people awaiting the test results. Three more confirmed patients have also recovered and were allowed home, bringing the total of those who have recovered to seven.

Among the 147, 66 people were Chinese nationals, while one was from Hong Kong and one was an American ― reportedly family members of two Koreans who returned here on two previous charted flights.

The evacuees will be quarantine individually ― except for families with children ― for two weeks, and be checked on daily by resident medical staff.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health and Ministry announced that the coronavirus had been given the designation COVID-19 by the World Health Organization (WHO) ― CO for corona, VI for virus, D for disease and 19 for the outbreak year.

According to the National Medical Center, all confirmed patients have mild symptoms and if young and healthy, they can recover without any special treatment.

At the airport, the authorities began tightening quarantine checks for passengers arriving from Hong Kong and Macao, Wednesday, following the government's decision to designate the two cities as potential virus hot spots.

Passengers traveling from the two cities must fill out a health check form, have their temperatures measured, and share contact information for their stay in Korea to exit the airport. The government said it was also mulling adding Singapore to the list.

Previously, the government placed an entry ban on foreigners coming from Wuhan and the surrounding Hubei Province.

Passengers coming from elsewhere in China, must download a "coronavirus self-check application" to their smartphones at the airport and update it every day. Those who do not have a smartphone can enter the country after providing local contact information in Korea ― if they do not, they are deported to the country of their arriving flight's origin.


Kim Se-jeong skim@koreatimes.co.kr


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