South Korea confirmed two more cases of the Wuhan novel coronavirus on Wednesday (Feb. 5), bringing the country's total to 18.
South Korean patient came into contact with infected Malaysian in Singapore
According to Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), one of the latest cases is a 38-year-old South Korean man who visited Singapore for a conference between Jan. 18 to Jan. 24.
He came into contact with a Malaysian who later tested positive for the virus.
"With information of a confirmed case who is Malaysian, he visited to a local screening center(triage clinic center) on Feb 4, 2020," said KCDC.
The 38-year-old South Korean man tested positive for the virus on Feb. 5 by the North Gyeonggi Health and Environment Research Institute.
First Malaysian to test positive for Wuhan virus was in Singapore for a business meeting
According to Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH), the Malaysian man, who is from the state of Selangor, was in Singapore between Jan. 16 and Jan. 23.
He attended a business meeting at Grand Hyatt Hotel, which involved Chinese nationals, and displayed symptoms after his return to Malaysia.
The man subsequently tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Feb. 3. On Feb. 4, Malaysia confirmed its first citizen case of virus.
South Korea conducting contact tracing
According to the KCDC, the other South Korean confirmed to have the novel coronavirus is a 21-year-old South Korean woman, who is the daughter of the 16th patient in South Korea.
While she was in isolation, she tested positive for the virus on Feb. 5.
The Korean Herald reported that the KCDC is tracing the steps of South Korea's confirmed cases to determine where they went, and the people they have met.
129 people have been quarantined to test for the novel coronavirus, and 1,318 people who came into contact with an infected person are being tested.
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