China's First Dedicated Arrival Hall Activated... Busy from Declaration Forms to Contact Verification

Ministry of Health and Welfare and Related Agencies Deploy Officials On-site... Conducting Report Form Completion and Contact Information Verification

On the afternoon of the 28th, people arriving from Hangzhou, China, are undergoing quarantine at the quarantine station in Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has designated the entire territory of China as a quarantine target contaminated area in relation to the novel coronavirus and has made quarantine and submission of health status questionnaires mandatory for all incoming travelers. / Yeongjongdo - Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Yu Je-hoon] The "China-only arrival hall" at Incheon International Airport has officially begun operation. This measure aims to prevent contact between passengers arriving from China and general passengers in order to curb the spread of the "Novel Coronavirus Infection (Wuhan Pneumonia)."

On the first day of implementation, quarantine officers and government officials from related agencies stationed on site were busy collecting health questionnaires and special quarantine declaration forms (for foreigners) from passengers disembarking from flights arriving from China, while also verifying contact information.

At 12:40 a.m. on the 4th, Korean Air flight KE854 from Beijing, China, arrived at Terminal 2 of Incheon International Airport. KE854 was the first flight from China to arrive after the China-only arrival hall began operation, carrying about 100 passengers. Most passengers were wearing masks, and some even wore goggles.

About 20% of these passengers were transfer passengers. A quarantine official explained, "I understand that passengers holding Hubei Province passports are not allowed to depart from the origin and cannot be issued tickets. Since there were not many group tourists, the proportion of transfer passengers was high."

On site that day, more than 50 public officials from the Ministry of Health and Welfare were dispatched for quarantine duties. They wore civil defense uniforms while guiding passengers arriving on flights from China.

Upon disembarking and reaching the quarantine area, Korean passengers were instructed to fill out a "Health Status Questionnaire," while foreign passengers were additionally required to complete a "Special Quarantine Declaration Form." The special declaration form asked foreigners to provide their domestic residence address, mobile phone number, and whether they had stayed in Hubei Province. At the same time, examinations were conducted to check for fever and respiratory symptoms.

Some passengers caused confusion by failing to properly complete the required documents, necessitating re-quarantine. In response, officials stationed at various points of the dedicated quarantine counters explained how to fill out the forms to the passengers.

Next, contact information verification was conducted. About 20 officials made direct phone calls to each passenger’s domestic phone number to confirm connectivity. Passengers whose contact information was verified were issued a "Quarantine Confirmation Certificate," after which they proceeded through immigration and exited the arrival hall. Passengers on flights from China who did not receive this certificate were denied entry.

Meanwhile, among the approximately 100 passengers on board that day, none showed symptoms such as fever nor had unverified contact information, it was reported.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.