About 30 Beer Sheba eighth grade students who were in contact with South Korean tourists in Israel were instructed to self-quarantine after the South Koreans tested positive for the coronavirus on their return to South Korea, Israel’s Health Ministry stated on Motzei Shabbos. Nine South Koreans who were on a week-long trip in Israel from February 8 -15 and were in contact with hundreds of Israelis tested positive for the coronavirus when they returned home, the ministry said. Two of the students’ teachers were also instructed to self-quarantine as well as the cleaning staff of the Jerusalem hotel where the tourists stayed. Additionally, 20 employees of Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority who work in Masada, Caesarea and Tel Be’er Sheva National Parks and had contact with the South Korean tourists were instructed to self-quarantine. The students and their teachers had visited the Tel Be’er Sheva National Park last Thursday at the same time the South Korean tourists were there. The ministry published a list of the places the tourists visited, including Jerusalem, Beer Sheba, Netanya, Chevron, Yam Hamelech, the Kinneret, Caesaria, and Nazareth. They also visited areas in Yehudah and Shomron controlled by the Palestinian Authority including Shechem, Yericho, Beit Lechem and [Arab] Chevron. About 200 South Koreans who landed on a Korean Air flight in Israel on Motzei Shabbos were denied entry into the country. The 12 Israelis on the plane were transferred to ambulances and driven to their homes with instructions to self-quarantine for two weeks. All flights to and from Seoul have been canceled for the time being. About 1,000 South Korean tourists who are currently in Israel have been instructed to remain in their hotel rooms. Health Ministry director Moshe Bar Siman-Tov announced on Motzei Shabbos that Israelis returning from South Korea and Japan will now be required to self-quarantine for two weeks, a rule already in place for Israelis arriving from China, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Macau. South Korea reported an eight-fold jump in viral infections Saturday with more than 400 cases mostly linked to a church and a hospital, while the death toll in Iran climbed to six and a dozen towns in Italy effectively went into lockdowns as health officials around the world battle a new virus that has spread from China. Some virus clusters have shown no direct link to travel to China. The spread in Italy prompted local authorities in the Lombardy and Veneto regions to order schools, businesses, and restaurants closed and to cancel sporting events and Masses. Hundreds of residents and workers who came into contact with an estimated 54 people confirmed infected in Italy were in isolation pending test results. Two people infected with the virus have died. South Korea has reported 433 cases and its third death from the virus, a man in his 40s who was found dead at home and posthumously tested positive. There’s concern that the country’s death toll could grow. In and around South Korea’s fourth-largest city, Daegu, health workers scrambled to screen thousands. Virus patients with signs of pneumonia or other serious conditions at the Cheongdo hospital were transferred to other facilities, 17 of them in critical condition, Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip told reporters. He said that the outbreak had entered a serious new phase, but still expressed cautious optimism […]

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