HOSPITALS TO EXPAND TRAVEL RECORD SCREENING

[Anchor Lead]

Since the new coronavirus has spread to countries other than China, the Korean government has decided to have hospitals check travel history more thoroughly. Also, a third charter flight will be sent to Wuhan tomorrow to bring back more Korean nationals. We have the details.

[Pkg]

From now on, hospitals in Korea will check for people's travel history to Southeast Asia as well as China. Some confirmed cases in Korea contracted the virus when they were visiting countries, such as Thailand, Singapore, and Japan. Hospitals and pharmacies, therefore, will start checking travel history to Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam tomorrow, expanding to Japan and Hong Kong from Thursday. Medical centers will start confirming travels to Taiwan, Malaysia and Macao one week later, on the 17th. Currently, people entering Korea through China are subject to a special entry procedure. Now they have to use a self-diagnosis app to check their condition. The app is capable of more thorough monitoring as it helps people check their health on a daily basis. Meanwhile, the government has decided to send another chartered flight to bring back Korean nationals and their families still in Wuhan. This time, Korean expats' Chinese family members will also be allowed to board the flight. Those eligible include spouse, parents and children of a Korean national. Seoul said Beijing authorities recently approved of Chinese nationals leaving the country with their Korean family members. The government also plans to increase the number of beds in isolation wards to more than 900. Currently there are just under 200. This plan will make use of existing resources, such as regional hub medical centers or general hospitals with isolation wards. More epidemiological investigators will be hired. The number of immediate response teams will be increased from 10 to 30 to find out the movements of confirmed patients faster.