South Korean tourists with face masks wait to board a flight back to South Korea at the Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, Israel, February 24, 2020. /AP
An increasing number of countries and regions have placed travel restrictions on visitors traveling from South Korea due to a surge in the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the country in recent days, according to Yonhap News Agency.
The confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea spiked from 30 on February 17 to 893, with nine deaths, as of Tuesday morning. The government in Seoul raised its disease alert to the "highest" level on Sunday. Among the patients, more than 60 percent were found to be members of the Shincheonji religious group in the southeastern city of Daegu.
Some foreign countries have barred travelers from South Korea from entering their territory amid growing fears that they may spread the deadly respiratory disease. Israel was one of the first countries to impose the travel ban, together with Bahrain and Jordan.
Those who have been to South Korea for the last two weeks are to be quarantined for at least 14 days upon entering the countries of Kiribati, Samoa and American Samoa.
Brunei, the U.K., Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Ethiopia, Oman, Uganda and Qatar will enhance the monitoring of travelers from South Korea who will be put into temporary quarantines and receive medical inspections.
A worker wearing a protective suit sprays disinfectant as a precaution against the novel coronavirus at the National Assembly in Seoul, South Korea, February 24, 2020. /AP
The U.K. and Singapore have advised their citizens to avoid non-essential travel to South Korea's Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province, the regions hardest hit by the outbreak in the country.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has recommended all non-essential travel to South Korea and raised the warning level to its highest.
China's two special administrative regions have announced similar measures. Hong Kong has issued a ban on travelers from South Korea who are not Hong Kong residents as of Tuesday. Macao has been conducting separate quarantine checks on visitors from South Korea at a designated facility.
China's Taiwan region has also raised its alert on trips to South Korea to the third-highest level "warning". The local health authorities will place all passengers from South Korea, except residents of Taiwan, on a 14-day quarantine.