Seoul raises travel warning on Italy over coronavirus

People walk in an almost empty St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy, Monday. Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte says he is restricting travel nationwide to try to stop the spread of the new coronavirus. (AP-Yonhap)

SEOUL — South Korea’s Foreign Ministry raised the travel alert for two additional regions of Italy effective Monday, amid the fast-rising number of COVID-19 cases.

Seoul issued a “yellow warning,” which calls for travel restraint and is the third-highest in the country’s four-notch warning system, for Piedmont and Marche in Italy’s northwest and central east, respectively.

There are now five provinces in Italy with a “yellow warning,” including Lombardy, Emilia-Romagna and Veneto, which were issued last month.

The decision was based on the spike in COVID-19 cases in the country, with 90 percent of confirmed cases concentrated in the five regions, according to the ministry. It advised Koreans residing in the area to take extra precautions and think carefully if consider traveling to the area.

As of Tuesday, Italy has reported 9,172 confirmed cases and 463 deaths, the largest outbreak outside of China, where the virus had originated last December.

Due to the rapid rise in cases, Italy — with 60 million population — has imposed a nationwide lockdown to contain the virus, under which people will only be allowed to leave their homes for work or health reasons.

Seoul officials said they haven’t considered sending flights to evacuate citizens there at the moment, as flights are still available. But if needed, it will be considered.

Meanwhile, Seoul plans to send chartered flights to evacuate 80 citizens from Iran this week, as the Middle Eastern country is suffering a shortage of medicines and medical facility amid a sharp rise in COVID-19 cases.