By Gim Minjeong
As the new coronavirus continues to spread in China, the [Korean] government has upgraded its travel alerts throughout China’s Hubei province, including Wuhan, to a three-stage recommendation for withdrawal. Two days ago a two-stage “Restrict Travel” alert was issued regarding Wuhan City, where the virus occurred on the 23rd. A “Travel Caution” warning was also issued regarding the rest of Hubei Province.
The [Korean] Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the new coronavirus is spreading throughout Hubei Province – and confirmed also that there are verified coronavirus patients in Korea. In addition, the World Health Organization (WHO) also issued advice that it is necessary to thoroughly prepare in order to prevent the spread of the virus infection to the Korean populace. The Foreign Ministry [further] said that Korean citizens staying in China’s Hubei province will withdraw from the province if they are not there for emergency reasons. It was also requested that those who are planning to travel to Hubei cancel or postpone the trip.