Starting Monday, South Korea will lift entry and visa restrictions for China's Hubei Province, the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.

In a Friday briefing, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters made the announcement, noting the virus situation has improved in China, and Hubei has not reported any cases recently.

Since February 4, Seoul imposed an entry ban on all foreigners who visited Hubei Province in the past two weeks as well as Hubei-issued passport holders.

It also temporarily suspended the validity of existing visas issued in the province while the South Korean consulate general in Wuhan stopped issuing new visas. 

Vice Health Minister Kim Gang-lip said in the briefing that entry restrictions will be lifted on arrivals from Hubei as the province has not reported virus cases in recent days and also in consideration of China resuming visa issuance for South Koreans.