CALLS FOR EXPANSION OF QUARANTINE SCOPE

[Anchor Lead]

After it was revealed that South Korea's 16th confirmed patient of the new coronavirus had visited Thailand, not China, there are growing calls that Korea should expand the quarantine network to also cover areas outside China. Inspection results are still pending but it's likely she contracted the virus while traveling in Thailand. It has also been found that the largest number of Chinese holiday makers who left Wuhan ahead of the lunar New Year holiday, had visited Thailand.

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Korea's 16th confirmed patient of the novel coronavirus exhibited symptoms of fever 6 days after returning from her trip to Bangkok and Pattaya. Authorities say possible infection at home can't be ruled out completely but it's highly likely she contracted the virus while in Thailand. The country currently has 25 confirmed patients of the virus. Many Chinese tourists arrived there ahead of the lunar New Year holiday last month. One survey shows Thailand is the foreign country where the greatest number of visitors from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak travelled to.

[Soundbite] KIM YONG-SIK(PASTOR, KOREAN UNION CHURCH IN BANGKOK) : "Many Chinese-Thai people reside in the area. So their families and kin visit Thailand to spend the holiday in this warm country."

Confirmed patients are also on the rise in other neighboring nations of China including Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan. However visitors arriving in Korea from these countries only go through temperature checks and are not being inspected thoroughly. Korea's 12th confirmed patient, a Chinese national, had also made contact with a patient in Japan. This individual flew in from Japan and was therefore not detected by airport quarantine. The government claims it's not yet the stage to expand the scope of the quarantine system... but, explained that countries other than China can be designated as infected areas if the outbreak is considered to have extensively spread across local communities. On January 28th the Seoul government declared the whole of China as contaminated with the virus, then stepped up quarantine efforts on all passengers coming in from China. A similar designation for other countries can also lead to stronger monitoring.

[Soundbite] PROF. LEE JAE-GAP(HALLYM UNIV. KANGNAM SACRED HEART HOSPITAL) : "We must monitor whether the virus entered the country through various routes and if it started an epidemic. Such monitoring requires diverse methods."

Observers also highlighted the need to discuss ways to improve coordination between countries with the potential for further spread of the virus.