A Filipino tested positive for coronavirus disease in South Korea in 2019 (COVID-19), the Department of Health (DOH) reported on Monday.
South Korea increased its virus warning to the highest level on Sunday as the number of confirmed cases within its borders exceeded more than 600–the highest outside China, apart from the virus-hit cruise ship Diamond Princess docked at Japan.
The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said that there is no travel ban on South Korea yet, but in the COVID-19 situation, Filipinos are advised to “stop non-essential travel.”
Vergeire noted that one Filipino is also sick in Singapore, two in the United Arab Emirates and one in Hong Kong.
In Japan, after being onboard the cruise ship M / V Diamond Princess where over 600 people had been contaminated, 49 Filipinos tested positive for COVID-19.
Vergeire has urged Filipinos, if possible, to delay their trips abroad.
Vergeire previously mentioned that the country’s Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases is considering enforcing new travel restrictions on countries with confirmed local transmission of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
