Coronavirus: 'Reconsider travelling to Daegu in South Korea,' advises Indian Embassy

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 a 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.

'Avoid physical contact'

The Embassy also advised Indian nationals to take other precautions against the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, such as refraining contact with sick people and avoiding physical contact with strangers. The Embassy also urged its citizens to avoid public gatherings and to wear masks while using public transport and moving around outside.

“The Indian ‘namastey’ greeting is best,” the embassy advised people when meeting strangers.

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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.

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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.

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