S. Korea seeks to dispatch teams to Vietnam to help some 270 citizens in coronavirus quarantine

All News 15:46 March 04, 2020

SEOUL, March 4 (Yonhap) -- South Korea is seeking to send three "rapid response" teams to Vietnam to help some 270 citizens in quarantine over coronavirus concerns, Seoul's foreign ministry said Wednesday.

In Vietnam, 276 South Koreans have been put under a quarantine program at military installations, health care facilities or hotels, as the number of COVID-19 infections here has risen to 5,328, with the death toll standing at 32.

Vietnam has imposed the entry ban on people who have traveled to Korea's southeastern city of Daegu and nearby North Gyeongsang Province, both the focus of Seoul's quarantine efforts, in the last two weeks. Those from other parts of Korea are to face a 14-day quarantine.

"As soon as conditions are met, South Korea plans to send three rapid response teams to Vietnam," a foreign ministry official told reporters on condition of anonymity.

South Korea has been in talks with Vietnam over the possibility of quarantine exemptions for the rapid response teams. The team members plan to carry medical documents showing they have tested negative for the novel virus.

Each team consists of four people from the foreign ministry and other related government agencies. The teams will be dispatched to three areas of responsibility for the South Korean Embassy in Hanoi and consulate generals in Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang.

The top priority for the teams will be to help those quarantined at public facilities shift to self-quarantine and provide sufficient consular support for those who want to return to South Korea, the official said.

In China, there are about 830 South Koreans in quarantine. But the ministry does not plan to send any support teams as its staff at the China-based missions can handle the consular and other affairs related to them.