South Korea reports 12th new coronavirus case, 70 potential cases under observation
North Chungcheong Province Governor Lee Si-jong, center, visits a civil servant training facility in Jincheon County, Saturday, where Korean residents and students evacuated from Wuhan, China, on government-chartered planes are being quarantined. Yonhap
The health authorities reported the country's 12th case of the novel coronavirus Saturday, adding it was monitoring a further 70 potential cases as citizens' braced for a possible spread of the deadly virus amid concerns over person-to-person transmission.
The latest patient is a 49-year-old Chinese man who works as a tour guide in Japan and arrived here Jan. 19 through Gimpo International Airport in western Seoul, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
The KCDC said the man was acquainted with a Japanese person infected with the virus in his country, indicating that he may constitute a human transmission case. The Japanese acquaintance had urged the man to go to a hospital to be checked, it added.
The agency said it is tracking people who have might have been in contact with the patient.
Since Jan. 3, 371 people had been monitored for potential contagion, 289 of whom turned out not to be infected.
The KCDC said 460 people who had been in close proximity to virus-infected patients are being monitored carefully.
The government confirmed its first coronavirus case Jan. 20, with the second one being reported Jan. 24, followed by one each on Jan. 26 and 27. The KCDC said two more cases were discovered Thursday, and five Friday.
Of the total, five are presumed to involve human transmission as the patients had not been to China recently.
This kind of transmission is worrisome as people may not know they have contracted the illness, even if they have symptoms, and can contaminate large numbers of people unwittingly.
Common signs of infection include fever, coughing, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases, the infection can cause pneumonia, acute respiratory syndrome and even lead to death.
The health authorities are tracing the steps of confirmed patients, who were asymptomatic upon entering the country, so it can send teams to decontaminate areas they visited.
The KCDC said it has not been able to contact 50 Koreans who had returned from the Chinese city of Wuhan, the presumed origin of the illness.
The total number of passengers who flew in from Wuhan has been tallied at 2,991, with Korean nationals making up 1,085 as of Thursday; 398 foreigners are still thought to be in the country.
The agency said of the 18 Koreans sent to hospitals after being airlifted from Wuhan on Friday, 11 were shown to be not infected, while seven are still awaiting the results of tests.
The first airlift brought in 368 people, while the second carried 333, seven of whom were taken to a hospital for further checks.
The KCDC said the country is struggling to contain the further spread of the new virus and urged citizens to do their part with respect to personal hygiene.
The agency urged those who have been to China in the last 14 days to quarantine themselves.
It, said that as of early Saturday, the virus has killed 259 people and infected around 12,000 people worldwide. (Yonhap)