Next 7-10 days to be critical period for containing coronavirus outbreak: Gov't

정부 “지금부터 7~10일 정말 중요한 고비”

The South Korean government announces the country is heading into a critical period for containing the coronavirus outbreak.
For more on this, we connect to Lee Kyung-eun on the line.
Kyung-eun, what do we know so far?

Well Ji-yoon, the health ministry said this morning that the next seven to ten days will be the most critical and challenging in terms of containing the outbreak.
The government says that it was able to detect the patients at an early stage of the infection through strict screening and has kept the virus from spreading into the local community.
However, it did say the situation is will become more alarming,... as the virus is spreading fast across China.

And we saw some signs of that yesterday.
On Sunday, South Korea confirmed three more cases, bringing the total number to 15.
That makes it the country with the fifth highest number of infections along with Hong Kong, which also has 15 cases.
Exactly two weeks ago on January 20th, there was only one case in South Korea.

What have we learned about the patients so far and those who they might have come into contact with?

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,... the 13th case is a 28-year-old South Korean man.
He was among the South Korean nationals evacuated from the city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, through a chartered flight last Friday.

The 14th case is a 40-year-old Chinese woman.
She is the wife of the 12th patient, a 49-year-old Chinese man who tested positive on Saturday.

The 15th case is a 43-year-old Korean man who came back from Wuhan on January 20th.

Currently, the health authorities are investigating the locations and people that were exposed to the confirmed patients.
It is reported that a lot of people might have come into contact with the 12th patient, who visited locations in Seoul, Gyeonggi-do Province, and the city of Gangneung in Gangwon-do Province.
A movie theater that he visited in the city of Bucheon has been temporarily closed.

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