South Korea: Busan workers tested amid outbreak on Russian ship

South Korea is testing 176 workers at the southern port of Busan after 16 crew members of a Russian cargo ship tested positive for the new coronavirus.

Kwon Jun-wook, director of South Korea's National Institute of Health, said Tuesday that all 21 crew members were tested after the ship arrived at Busan's Gamcheon Port Sunday carrying frozen seafood.

He said the ship's captain failed to properly inform port authorities that three of the crew members had high fever.

The 176 people being tested included cargo handlers, customs officials, repair workers and interpreters who made contact with the infected crewmembers. Port officials and workers earlier on Tuesday agreed to halt unloading cargoes from the ship and another Russian ship at the port.

South Korea reported 46 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday, including 30 linked to international arrivals.

The country has been struggling to stem a resurgence of the virus in the Seoul metropolitan area, where hundreds of infections have been linked to entertainment and leisure activities, church gatherings and low-income workers such as door-to-door salespeople and warehouse workers who couldn't afford to stay home.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

But the virus is highly contagious and can be spread by those with mild or no visible symptoms.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.