Chinese Student Here Tests Positive for Coronavirus

A Chinese student at Catholic Kwandong University in Gangneung, Gangwon Province has tested positive for coronavirus.

Gangneung city officials said Sunday that the student arrived from Shenyang on Feb. 28 without displaying any symptoms. But the city has since last week set up stringent inspections targeting all foreign students on arrival and were able to identify the patient quickly.

There may be others among some 10,000 Chinese students who have arrived in Korea since Feb. 10 and those set to arrive in the coming weeks if they are asymptomatic.

Jeon Byung-ryul at CHA University said, "This case suggests that hundreds more carriers may exist among the tens of thousands of Chinese students who have arrived so far."

Kim Woo-joo at Korea University Guro Hospital said, "Present quarantine measures which do not restrict incoming travelers, can't screen out patients who display no symptoms."

According to the Education Ministry, around 36,000 Chinese students study in Korea.

Only on Feb. 28, President Moon Jae-in said in a meeting with the chiefs of four ruling and opposition parties stressed that there had been no new infections among Chinese visitors since Feb. 4 and banning Chinese visitors is "impossible and devoid of benefits." He added, "If we impose a comprehensive ban on of visitors from China, we may end up being treated the same way by other countries."