Published 19:46 IST, February 24th 2020
Mongolia halts flights from South Korea to prevent spread of Coronavirus
As South Korea witnessed a spike in coronavirus cases, Mongolia’s National Emergency Commission decided to halt all the flights from the affected nation.
- World News
- 3 min read
As South Korea witnessed a spike in Coronavirus cases, Mongolia’s National Emergency Commission has decided to halt all the flights from the affected nation. The landlocked country between Russian and China has also blocked entry through its borders until March 2 in order to prevent the spread of Coronavirus in Mongolia.
Ulaanbaatar has started taking drastic measures as the novel Coronavirus after various countries in Asia, Europe, and the Middle East started reporting more cases of the deadly virus. Earlier, Mongolia had blocked all entries through its border with China which also led to the suspension of coal deliveries into the Coronavirus-hit nation.
South Korea has confirmed an additional 161 Coronavirus cases on February 24, with 763 total confirmed cases, making it the largest number of cases in the world after China. Most numbers of cases in South Korea are related to the Shincheonji Church of Jesus in the southern city of Daegu.
Indian Embassy issues advisory
The Indian Embassy in South Korea urged its citizens to reconsider non-essential travels to Daegu and Cheongdo county in Gyeongbuk after these were declared as “Special Care zones” by the government in the wake of Coronavirus outbreak. The Embassy issued an advisory for Indian nationals living in South Korea following several calls and e-mails from them regarding the spike in the number of coronavirus cases in South Korea over the past few days.
Though the Korean government raised the virus alert level to ‘red’, most of the cases were largely centred in Daegu and the neighbouring north Gyeongsang province. “Korean Government has declared Daegu and Cheongdo county in Gyeongbuk as ‘Special Care zones’. In this situation, please reconsider non-essential travel to these places,” tweeted the Indian Embassy on February 24.
According to the latest report, 150 new deaths in China due to Coronavirus infections have been confirmed, taking the total death toll because of the deadly virus to nearly 2,600. While most of the cases are from Hubei province of China and the city of Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, other countries, including Italy, Japan and the Philippines, have also now reported deaths related to COVID-19.
(With inputs from agencies)
Updated 19:46 IST, February 24th 2020