US nationals urged to reconsider SKorea travel

By Michael Hernandez

WASHINGTON (AA) - The U.S. warned Americans Thursday against travel to South Korea amid the ongoing new coronavirus outbreak in that country, telling its nationals to reconsider travel plans because of the growing number of cases.

The department raised its travel warning to level three, saying "If suspected to have COVID-19 (coronavirus) in South Korea, you may face travel delays, quarantine, and extremely expensive medical costs."

Those who do travel to South Korea should discuss their trip with their health care provider and older travelers may be at increased risk of contracting "more severe disease," the department warned.

The agency previously raised its travel warning Saturday to level two, telling travelers to exercise increased caution as the coronavirus continues to spread worldwide after emerging in China in December.

Earlier in the day, China reported 78,630 cases of COVID-19 to the World Health Organization, including 2,747 deaths.

Outside China, there were 3,474 cases in 44 countries where 54 people have died.

The death toll in South Korea rose to 13 Thursday while local health officials raised the tally of detected cases of the virus to 1,595.

The State Department's new travel guidance comes one day after the U.S. military confirmed a coronavirus infection in a service member who visited Daegu, South Korea.

The soldier, whose identity has not been released, is currently in self-quarantine at his off-base residence, U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said in a statement.

The South Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention "and USFK health professionals are actively conducting contact tracing to determine whether any others may have been exposed," the command said.

"USFK is implementing all appropriate control measures to help control the spread of COVID-19 and remains at risk level 'high' for USFK peninsula-wide as a prudent measure to protect the force," it added.