MSPeconomist

Information about the Wuhan virus epidemic has been appearing in its big thread in the China destination forum and also a bit in the smaller similar thread in the Japan forum comparing the statistics for Japan and ROK. It would be convenient to have a place to gather information about the situation in Korea, including possible entry/transit restrictions, quarantines, closings, mask availability, etc. as well as statistics on confirmed cases etc. either in Korea or related to travel to Korea.

I don't want to cross post, but I've seen claims that South Korea has 229 confirmed cases, many of which are related to a church located far from Seoul with others related to a hospital (medical staff and patients, including many patients in a mental ward), also outside of Seoul. Taiwan has issued a level 2 travel alert for both Korea and Japan.

AFAICT there's not yet been a systematic waiver policy announced by either OZ or KE, so refunds for potential trip cancellations presumably depend on fare rules.

jiejie

I think starting a specific thread for the COVID-19 situation in South Korea is a good idea vs placing it in the larger ongoing China coronavirus thread, so that would-be travelers to Korea can more easily ferret out and discuss relevant information. US CDC has also just raised the alert to Level 2, following Taiwan. And the count of positive cases has exploded to 556 as of this writing. I believe the city of Daegu is now in lockdown.

nwa330

My family and I have a vacation planned to BKK via ICN in a few months. At this point no one wants to go but Delta has not issued waivers to ICN. Would you be concerned at this point traveling with small kids with all this going on? I’m not worried about being in Thailand it’s the plane ride I am concerned with. I’m hoping KE or DL issue the waiver so we can rebook for 2021.

MSPeconomist

USA network/cable news this morning is reporting 556 confirmed cases (as posted above) in South Korea with 5 deaths. In the main WuFlu thread in the China forum, someone posted a number of 602 cases in Korea.

invisible

Data is from here
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/#countries

MSPeconomist

South Korea has 161 more confirmed cases, for a total of 763.

Jimgotkp

Lack of masks in Korea so best to have some in advance before arriving here, I believe this is the same with other countries (ex. Japan, Taiwan). Hand sanitizers are sold out at many places as well, so I recommend traveling with some bottles of those too.

I've been here since mid-December and cut my stay short so I'm leaving back home today as things got worse in the past few days due to the church in Daegu.

MSPeconomist

Some airline amenity kits include a small bottle of hand sanitizer, so if you have a premium cabin flight, find and save the little bottle before disposing of the remainder of your "gift" if you're so inclined.

I have a big supply from various DL international flights in D1, although one of these little bottles is unlikely to be enough for a trip.

Global Adventurer

You can make your own too. Just get an empty pump or squirt bottle and add rubbing alcohol and glycerin. You can buy both ingredients at any pharmacy.

paperwastage

Hkg to ban nonhkg -resident travelers who have been in South Korea /travelling from South Korea

Let's see if other countries will follow

EDIT: USA CDC raised southkorea to level 3 (Avoid nonessential travel)
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices...us-south-korea

bosleto

US CDC changed the travel advisory for South Korea to level 3 (i.e. avoid non-essential travel).

EDIT: sorry for the doublepost, didn't see the edit above.

mikesaidyes

My two cents. As a single adult, my life has not changed here. Office workers all out and about, going to lunch, working, drinking at night. Many of them are not allowing meetings/outside visitors to be cautious. Some do temp checks before you can get in a building/the office itself. Of course, everyone I know with kids/older family - they're staying in. Schools delayed until March 9 out of an abundance of caution.

Seoul itself still only has 30 people. It is not "bad" here yet IMO. These huge numbers are shooting up because the cult members knew they were sick and went around Daegu just doing whatever they pleased in the name of "prophesizing their cult." They're really intense and just ridiculous. On the other hand, you can think of this as "it's not really spreading around regular people" because most people don't come in contact with these cult people. But since everything happened in Daegu, that's where it's concentrated.

Masks are impossible to come by - online, stores, anywhere. Personally, I don't wear one because I think they're just for show and manners. Proven to have no real effect on preventing the spread of Coronavirus.

I have trips to Osaka in March and the US in April. I'm keeping them. Only if it suddenly gets "WAY WORSE DOOM AND GLOOM" and they waive my refund penalties OR America imposes a travel ban, then I won't go.

Personally, I don't feel in danger of catching Coronavirus. I also refuse to buy into the panic and hysteria and social media news and videos and all of it. There's literally nothing I can do except wash my hands, cover when I cough, and use sanitizer. Most people don't actually do that - they just wear a mask and think it's enough. I see them in the bathrooms still not washing hands, spitting on the ground, etc.

gav0106

Hi All. Travelling Thailand to US, via Seoul. I appreciate things change all the time, but when you transit only, does the US government count you as having been to Korea. Just wondering about impact on arrival to the US. Many thanks!

mikesaidyes

They're gonna probably flag you with extra questions no matter where you go in Asia. I have read this on other blogs. They also may not at all. I wouldn’t worry right now. There’s no self quarantine ban or anything for US citizens with Korea.

xxdboixx

Both Delta and United instituted waivers to now include ICN. With the CDC raising Korea to level 3, I'm thinking it's just a matter of time that they will start cancelled flights. I was supposed to go in 18 days. I'm not afraid of contracting the virus but I am afraid of getting stuck there or being quarantined on my way home. I do think that if you use precautions, you'll be fine, esp in Seoul. I also do think that if you're going to visit, the experience may not be the same as in normal circumstances.