The South Korean government on Sunday filed a complaint with Israel, following the decision to refuse entry to 130 Korean nationals at Ben Gurion International Airport Saturday night. The Seoul Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “We expressed our regret at Israel’s decision and demanded that this never happen again.”
Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday put South Korea on the highest possible alert, empowering his government to lock down cities and take other extensive measures to contain the outbreak.
“The coming few days will be a critical time for us,” President Moon told an emergency meeting of his cabinet. “This will be a momentous time when the central government, local governments, health officials and medical personnel and the entire people must wage an all-out, concerted response to the problem.”
The outbreak in South Korea has reached 556 confirmed infections and five deaths in recent days.
President Moon raised the national alert to Level 4—serious, authorizing the banning of visitors from specific countries, restricting public transportation, and even placing entire cities under quarantine. Many of South Korea’s coronavirus cases are in the southeastern city of Daegu, which is under a state of emergency.
In Israel, some 200 students and teachers from Afula, Be’er Sheva and Kiryat Haim were sent to quarantine until Wednesday, having visited sites last week at the same time that 9 infected South Korean pilgrims were touring there.
Ofra Freund, principal of the David Tuviyahu School in Be’er Sheva whose 30 students had been quarantined for suspected contact with the Korean tourists, reported on Sunday that out of her 520 students – only 50 made it to school Sunday morning. Nevertheless, Freund did not know of any student who was symptomatic. She said that two teachers who had accompanied the students on the trip suffered from cold symptoms and were examined in Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva, and are awaiting their results.
Meanwhile, 12 Border Police officers who were in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron when the Korean pilgrims were visiting were sent home by their commanding officer, where they will remain in isolation. The decision was reached following a review of security cameras inside the cave.
Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Symantov said at a press conference Saturday night that the chance of contracting the coronavirus has increased greatly following the visit of the Korean group, and estimated that hundreds of people had come into contact with them. The ministry has extended the two-week isolation period to Israelis returning from South Korea and Japan.
Meanwhile, TASS reported that eight Russian nationals onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan had been taken home by the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s aircraft on Sunday.
Also: Japanese officials on Saturday admitted that 23 of the Diamond Princess passengers had been cleared to leave by mistake.
China on Sunday raised its official number of infected individuals to 76,936, with 2,442 deaths.
The US State Department raised its travel advisories for Japan and South Korea on Saturday to Level 2, (out of four), and recommended that American travelers “exercise increased caution” due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Finally: Philip Reeker, the acting assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, revealed that thousands of Russia-linked social media accounts are spreading disinformation about the United States being behind the coronavirus outbreak. “Russia’s intent is to sow discord and undermine US institutions and alliances from within, including through covert and coercive malign influence campaigns,” Reeker said.
The South Korean government on Sunday filed a complaint with Israel, following the decision to refuse entry to 130 Korean nationals at Ben Gurion International Airport Saturday night. The Seoul Foreign Ministry said in a statement: “We expressed our regret at Israel’s decision and demanded that this never happen again.”
Meanwhile, South Korean President Moon Jae-in on Sunday put South Korea on the highest possible alert, empowering his government to lock down cities and take other extensive measures to contain the outbreak.
“The coming few days will be a critical time for us,” President Moon told an emergency meeting of his cabinet. “This will be a momentous time when the central government, local governments, health officials and medical personnel and the entire people must wage an all-out, concerted response to the problem.”
The outbreak in South Korea has reached 556 confirmed infections and five deaths in recent days.
President Moon raised the national alert to Level 4—serious, authorizing the banning of visitors from specific countries, restricting public transportation, and even placing entire cities under quarantine. Many of South Korea’s coronavirus cases are in the southeastern city of Daegu, which is under a state of emergency.
In Israel, some 200 students and teachers from Afula, Be’er Sheva and Kiryat Haim were sent to quarantine until Wednesday, having visited sites last week at the same time that 9 infected South Korean pilgrims were touring there.
Ofra Freund, principal of the David Tuviyahu School in Be’er Sheva whose 30 students had been quarantined for suspected contact with the Korean tourists, reported on Sunday that out of her 520 students – only 50 made it to school Sunday morning. Nevertheless, Freund did not know of any student who was symptomatic. She said that two teachers who had accompanied the students on the trip suffered from cold symptoms and were examined in Soroka Medical Center in Be’er Sheva, and are awaiting their results.
Meanwhile, 12 Border Police officers who were in the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron when the Korean pilgrims were visiting were sent home by their commanding officer, where they will remain in isolation. The decision was reached following a review of security cameras inside the cave.
Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Symantov said at a press conference Saturday night that the chance of contracting the coronavirus has increased greatly following the visit of the Korean group, and estimated that hundreds of people had come into contact with them. The ministry has extended the two-week isolation period to Israelis returning from South Korea and Japan.
Meanwhile, TASS reported that eight Russian nationals onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan had been taken home by the Russian Emergencies Ministry’s aircraft on Sunday.
Also: Japanese officials on Saturday admitted that 23 of the Diamond Princess passengers had been cleared to leave by mistake.
China on Sunday raised its official number of infected individuals to 76,936, with 2,442 deaths.
The US State Department raised its travel advisories for Japan and South Korea on Saturday to Level 2, (out of four), and recommended that American travelers “exercise increased caution” due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Finally: Philip Reeker, the acting assistant secretary of state for Europe and Eurasia, revealed that thousands of Russia-linked social media accounts are spreading disinformation about the United States being behind the coronavirus outbreak. “Russia’s intent is to sow discord and undermine US institutions and alliances from within, including through covert and coercive malign influence campaigns,” Reeker said.