No travel ban but Pinoys told to 'delay non-essential travel' to South Korea amid COVID-19 threat

The Philippine government has not imposed a travel ban on South Korea but Filipino travelers have been advised to "delay non-essential travel" to the country amid the threat of the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19).

"Currently, there is no travel ban imposed on Filipinos traveling to South Korea but travelers are cautioned to delay non-essential travel to the country as a precaution," the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in an advisory Sunday.

South Korea raised its alert on the coronavirus to the highest level on Sunday after reporting three more deaths and 169 new infections.

A Philippine Department of Health official on Monday bared that a Filipino has tested positive for COVID-19 in South Korea. No other details were available as of posting time.

South Korea has seen a rapid surge in the number of coronavirus cases since a cluster of infections emerged from a religious sect in the southern city of Daegu.

The national toll of 602 cases is now the highest outside China, apart from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

The DFA), through the Philippine Embassy in Seoul, advises all Filipinos in South Korea to monitor and comply with the advisories from South Korean health authorities and cooperate with efforts to quell the further spread of the virus.

It urged Filipinos in South Korea to contact the emergency hotline number of the Philippine Embassy in Seoul at (+82) 10-9263-8119 during emergency situations.

Meanwhile, Filipinos in South Korea experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 should immediately contact the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) at 1339.

So far, the Philippine Embassy has not received information that there are Filipinos in South Korea infected by COVID-19.

The embassy said it is closely monitoring the situation and coordinating with Filipino community in ensuring the safety of Filipinos living and working in South Korea.

More than 2,400 people had died from COVID-19, most of them in China where the virus originated.

The vast majority of the deaths were in the provincial capital of Wuhan, where the virus first emerged in December. —KBK, GMA News