eFM News

[Anchor]

South Korea remains on high alert amid a global outbreak of a new coronavirus that is said to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan.

Local health authorities are scrambling to prevent the spread of the deadly disease.

Ron Chang from the tbs eFM News Desk joins us in the studio to give us the latest on the situation.

Ron, walk us through the latest developments.

[Reporter]

To start off, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced this afternoon that the fourth confirmed case came into contact with a total of 172 people since he arrived in the country from Wuhan eight days ago.

The patient came into close contact with 95 of them.

According to the KCDC, the 55-year-old Korean man, who lives in Gyeonggi's Pyeongtaek, mostly stayed at home since Monday of last week.

He did take an airport bus to his home and visited a medical institution in Pyeongtaek.

Most of the 95 people that he came into close contact with were on the plane - Korean Air flight 882 - airport bus - No. 8834 - and the medical facility that he visited.

[Anchor]

Were there reports of new confirmed cases today?

[Reporter]

There have been no new cases reported since yesterday.

There are a total of four confirmed cases so far in South Korea.

Fifteen people that have shown symptoms are currently undergoing testing while 97 have tested negative and released from quarantine.

Also, the government is working to track down an estimated 3,023 people that entered the country from Wuhan, considered to be the epicenter of the outbreak, between January 13 and 26 as the incubation period of the disease is 14 days.

Health authorities plan to work with local governments and police to locate them - 1,166 Korean nationals and 1,857 foreigners, mostly Chinese.

[Anchor]

Precautions definitely do need to be taken to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

[Reporter]

That's right.

The government is pulling out all the stops.

Seoul's foreign ministry issued a travel alert for the entirety of China except Taiwan today.

It raised its alert level to "restraint," the third highest in a four-tier system, for the whole country, including Hong Kong and Macau, calling on those planning to visit the country to reconsider their trips and its nationals in China to take extra care of their health and safety.

The ministry also maintained its second-highest level of "withdrawal recommendation" for China's Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located.

[Anchor]

And earlier, the government announced that it will dispatch a chartered plane to Wuhan as early as Thursday to bring back South Koreans there?

[Reporter]

Yes, the foreign ministry has decided to send chartered planes there to bring back some 700 of its nationals in Wuhan that have expressed their desire to evacuate.

Vice Foreign Minister Lee Tae-ho said it is planning to operate a total of four flights on Thursday and Friday.

Lee said it is in talks with the Chinese government about their plan, adding exact details could change.

[Anchor]

Now Ron, what's being done here in Seoul, a popular tourist attraction for many Chinese travelers?

[Reporter]

Firstly, Seoul Metro said it will disinfect the inside of trains on subway lines 1 through 8 four times a day from the current one as well as wipe down more often station escalator handrails.

Each subway station will also be equipped with some 2,000 masks, and they will be handed out to passengers.

Extra attention will be put on the Airport Express or AREX.

[Anchor]

What about students and parents who are also worried as classes are soon expected to resume after a month-long winter vacation?

[Reporter]

Seoul's education office has advised schools to extend their winter vacation.

A letter containing the non-binding advisory was sent to kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools across the capital.

It will be up to principals at each school to decide whether to postpone the start of a new semester, mostly scheduled for this week and next.

Seoul Education Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon said the office is considering various plans, including postponing the start of school.

Back to you.

[Anchor]

Thank you Ron for that report.■