Israel refused to let Korean travelers disembark and Bahrain banned all visitors from Korea, while other from the U.K. to Kazakhstan imposed visa restrictions and arrivals.

Some 14 countries have restricted or closed their doors to Korean travelers since the explosive increase of coronavirus infections here.

Koreans are now being shunned around the world, partly because their country continues to allow Chinese visitors to enter at will except from the original epicenter of the outbreak in Hubei Province.

The Israeli government allowed only 11 Israeli passengers to disembark from Korean Air flight 957 on arrival in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, and sent back 130 Koreans and other passengers from elsewhere. Israeli authorities suddenly imposed the entry ban after learning about the surge here.

The Korean government lodged a protest, but to no avail. Bahrain banned all foreigners who have visited Korea within the last 14 days.

Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department raised a travel warning to Korea to "strengthened caution." The next step is to advise Americans to "refrain" from traveling to Korea, while the highest level is a ban, which is already in place for Wuhan, China.

The Foreign Ministry has assured the U.S. State Department of the low risk posed by Korean visitors, but jitters continue to rise.

Taiwan and Japan both raised their travel advisory to Korea from caution to warning, while the U.K. and Australia urged their citizens to avoid visiting Daegu and Cheongdo.