No travel ban yet in South Korea despite MERS-CoV cases –DFA

There is no travel restriction yet to South Korea despite the rising number of MERS-CoV cases there, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Monday.

"Wala tayong ini-impose na travel restriction at wala tayong balak in the near future [na] mag-impose ng travel restriction," said DFA spokesman Charles Jose in an interview on GMA News TV's "Balitanghali."

Jose noted that the World Health Organization (WHO) has yet to declare a pandemic in South Korea as a result of the increase in number of patients with MERS-CoV, or the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.

"So wala po munang dapat ikabahala ang mga kababayan," he said. "Malaya pa pong mag-travel mula dito papuntang South Korea."

“The South Korean government is taking measures to address the situation there and our embassy in Seoul is monitoring closely the situation and remains in touch with the Filipino community,” he said in a separate interview.
 
Jose said there is no need to enforce restrictions to those who will enter the country from South Korea, saying precautionary measures are in place in Philippine airports.
 
“We have thermal scanners and if they exhibit symptoms like fever they will be subjected to secondary heath screening,” Jose said.

Sixth death in South Korea

In an advisory last week, the Philippine Embassy in South Korea urged Filipinos there to take the necessary precautions against the deadly virus amid the rise in the number of cases.

On Monday, South Korea recorded its sixth death and biggest single day jump in MERS infections, with 23 new cases in the largest outbreak of the potentially deadly virus outside Saudi Arabia.
 
From just four cases two weeks ago, the total number of infections now stands at 87, including six people who have died.
 
The latest fatality was a man in his 80s who had been diagnosed in Daejeon, 140 kilometers south of Seoul, and died in hospital on Monday morning, local officials said.
 
The outbreak has triggered widespread public concern in South Korea, with 2,300 people placed under quarantine orders and nearly 1,900 schools -- mostly in Seoul and surrounding Gyeonggi province -- closed down.
 
Among the 23 new cases, 17 were infected at the Samsung Medical Centre in southern Seoul, the health ministry said.
 
All the infections so far have been restricted to hospitals, with transmissions between patients, staff and their families. — GMA News with Agence France-Presse and Michaela del Callar

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