South Korea's 'pneumonia-like' illness case unrelated to China outbreaks: Korean authority

In this Jan. 4, 2020, file photo, a health surveillance officer monitors passengers arriving at the Hong Kong International airport in Hong Kong. AP-Yonhap

The public safety and health agency said Saturday that it had confirmed a single "pneumonia-like" illness case reported earlier in the week was not related to an outbreak in China.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said it carried out a pan-coronavirus test on the patient under quarantine and confirmed the illness was not caused by a new strain of the coronavirus that has made people sick in Wuhan, Hubei Province.

The 36-year-old Chinese woman, who visited the city in central China last month, started showing symptoms including coughing and inflammation of the throat. She visited a local hospital early last week and was initially diagnosed with pneumonia.

"She tested negative for the new type of the coronavirus," the KCDC said, adding that while it still needs to determine why she got sick, the agency was sure it was not because of the illness that has spread through parts of China. Chinese authorities who have been grappling with the illness said 41 patients suffering pneumonia-like symptoms were infected with the virus.

The KCDC said that based on the latest test, and the state of the patient's health, it consulted doctors and decided to allow her to leave. It also announced that it is halting monitoring the people she had come into contact with.

China has reported that the pneumonia-like sickness is not transmitted from person to person and of all people that have fallen ill so far, only one has died.

Seoul will maintain a close watch on people entering the country from Wuhan and will continue to ask visitors to the city to take extra care of personal hygiene and contact doctors if they feel sick after returning. (Yonhap)

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