South Korea on Tuesday confirmed one more case of the novel coronavirus, bringing the total here to 28 with four of them discharged after being fully recovered.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said the latest patient is a 30-year-od Chinese woman who is an acquaintance of the country's third confirmed case.

The Chinese national had been placed into a self-quarantine before being diagnosed, the public health agency said.

The KCDC said the third patient, a Korean national, arrived here from the central Chinese city of Wuhan, the epicenter of the global outbreak, on Jan. 20, the KCDC said.

He started showing symptoms on Jan. 22 before being diagnosed with the virus on Jan. 26, the KCDC said,

The number of those tested for the coronavirus had reached 3,629 as of early Tuesday, sharply up from 3,110 a day earlier, the KCDC said. Of the total, 2,736 tested negative and another 865 people are currently in quarantine to be checked for the novel virus. (Yonhap)