No big uptick in arrivals of South Koreans, govt says

There is no remarkable growth of visits from South Korea to the Chinese mainland due to the ongoing novel coronavirus epidemic, a senior official said at the news conference of the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council on Sunday.

Liu Haitao, director of the National Immigration Administration's border inspection, said visits from South Korea saw a slight increase starting Feb 23, rather than sharp rises.

Citing data from the administration, he said the average daily visits of South Korean citizens to the Chinese mainland has been 1,300 since Feb 23.

"The flights were full because airlines reduced flights between the two nations because of the epidemic," he said, adding that about 70 percent of the passengers are Chinese citizens.

Early on Feb 23, South Korea escalated the warning to novel coronavirus pneumonia to its highest level.