Ten more countries have banned the entry of people from South Korea over coronavirus concerns, raising the total number of countries and territories imposing such entry or quarantine restrictions to 150, even though Seoul has seen a marked drop in new infections.

Eighty-five countries and territories were set to impose or were already imposing an entry ban on people from Korea, up from 75 the previous day, the foreign ministry's chart showed Tuesday.

Canada was the latest in the list with its plan to bring into force an entry ban on Wednesday (Canada time). A few other countries, like Russia, Chile, Georgia and Paraguay toughened their measures for people from South Korea, as opposed to having imposed stricter quarantine procedures.

Many of the new countries, like Suriname, a coastal nation in South America, now belong to this category, having declared national border closures and the banning of any arrivals by foreigners to stem the spread of COVID-19.

Lithuania, Bulgaria, Liberia and Cote d'Ivoire also joined the list.

Some exceptions apply to diplomats and those with long-stay visas, residential permits or other essential reasons.  

Azerbaijan was added to the list of 17 countries and territories, including 23 provinces, cities and autonomous regions in China, imposing stricter quarantine procedures for travelers from South Korea and several other virus-hit nations.

Travelers flying into these countries and territories are required to go into isolation at designated facilities for at least two weeks.

The number of countries and territories implementing stricter health screenings and requiring or recommending self-isolation stood at 43, joined by Greece, the United Arab Emirates and Guinea.

Five countries were barring entry of people who have visited Daegu, southeast of Seoul, and North Gyeongsang Province -- the two epicenters of the virus outbreak -- in at least the past two weeks, unchanged from the previous tally.

The rise in the number of number of countries restricting travel from South Korea comes as the number of new infections in the country has dropped significantly in recent weeks.

South Korea reported 84 new cases of the virus Tuesday, bringing its total infections to 8,320, with 81 deaths. It was the third straight day that new infections were in double digits.

US Surgeon General Jerome Adams has also praised South Korea as a model in fighting the coronavirus.

"We have a choice to make as a nation. Do we want to go the direction of South Korea and really be aggressive and lower our mortality rates or do we want to go the direction of Italy?" he asked in an interview on Fox News.

Italy is the worst-hit country outside China, with at least 27,980 cases and 2,158 deaths.

"And when you look at the projections there's every chance that we could be Italy," Adams continued. "But there's every hope that we will be South Korea if people actually listen, if people actually social distance, if people do the basic public health measures that we've all been talking about as doctors all along, such as washing your hands, such as covering your cough, and cleaning surfaces." (Yonhap)