Indonesian Sailors Tested Positive for COVID-19 After Entering Korea One After Another: "Dozens Employed in Korea"

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saeng-hye] Indonesian seafarers who arrived in Busan and Tongyeong via Incheon Airport have consecutively tested positive for COVID-19.

According to the Korean Embassy in Indonesia on the 3rd, an Indonesian man who entered the country from Indonesia the day before and underwent a diagnostic test at the Busan Station screening clinic that afternoon was confirmed positive for COVID-19 on the same day.

This man is from Madura Island, East Java, and it was confirmed that eight seafarers, including him, entered the country together.

A 30-year-old Indonesian seafarer, presumed to have been on the same flight, also tested positive in Tongyeong. The first confirmed case in Tongyeong, an Indonesian man, entered through Incheon Airport on the 2nd, arrived at Busan Station by a dedicated train, then took a Tongyeong City support vehicle to the Tongyeong City Health Center screening clinic, where he tested positive.

On the 19th of last month, a 31-year-old Korean man (case number 146) and an Indonesian man (case number 147) who entered on a Jakarta-bound flight to Incheon and were tested at the Busan Station screening clinic were confirmed positive. The Indonesian case number 147 was also reported to be a seafarer workforce boarding a ship in Busan.

According to the Jakarta aviation industry, out of 100 passengers on recent flights from Jakarta to Incheon, 30 to 50 are Indonesian seafarers employed as crew. Despite the COVID-19 situation, Indonesian seafarer labor is steadily needed, so they continue to board flights to Korea. They purchase one-way tickets, enter through Incheon Airport, and then take the KTX to Busan and Ulsan.

Including case number 152 confirmed in Busan on this day, at least eight Koreans and two Indonesians have been confirmed positive immediately after entering Korea from Jakarta and Bali so far.

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Indonesia increased by 1,301 on this day, reaching a total of 60,695, and the death toll increased by 49, totaling 3,036.

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