The Centers for Disease Control and the foreign ministry have both issued travel warnings for South Korea as an outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in the country continues to spread.
MERS arrived in South Korea in May, when a man carrying the MERS coronavirus entered the country after a visit to the Middle East, the center of the epidemic. The disease has since killed two and infected 30 in the country as of Wednesday.
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) issued a level-two travel warning covering the Seoul metropolitan area. The warning extends to the cities of Seoul and Incheon as well as the surrounding Gyeonggi Province. In the CDC’s three-tier warning system, a level-two warning advises travelers to exercise strong caution.
However, the discovery that the outbreak may have spread to the central city of Daejeon has led the CDC to consider extending the alert to all of South Korea.
Meanwhile, the foreign ministry announced on Wednesday that it is issuing a “yellow alert” for Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.
Yellow is the third-highest alert level in the foreign ministry’s four-tiered travel warning system. A yellow alert urges travelers to be cautious and reconsider travel to affected areas.
The foreign ministry says it will continue to monitor the outbreak and provide information to the public as it becomes available. The CDC believes observers will need to wait until June 13 to determine whether the outbreak is under control.