One More Case of UK Variant Confirmed...All 5 Family Members Who Met at Airport Are Variant Cases (Update)

Inbound Travelers → Parents and Siblings' Spouses All Infected with Variant Virus
15 Cases of UK Variant and 1 Case of South Africa Variant, Total 16 Cases

On the morning of the 8th, citizens visiting the COVID-19 testing center set up at Incheon International Airport Terminal 2 are registering for tests.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] On the 8th, it was confirmed that a confirmed case, presumed to have contracted COVID-19 from a family member who entered the country from the United Kingdom, was infected with the UK-origin variant virus.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the same day that a variant virus was detected in the specimen of one family member who was a contact of a confirmed case with the UK variant virus identified on the 2nd. This person is one of the family members of an individual who entered from the UK on the 19th of last month and was confirmed positive domestically.

After three other family members were confirmed to have the variant virus the previous day, the remaining one was also confirmed to have the variant. It is presumed that the family of four went to the airport to pick up the entrant who arrived on the 19th from the UK and traveled together in the same car. Including the entrant, all five family members were infected with the variant virus.

The newly confirmed variant virus case on this day entered self-quarantine after the family member who returned from the UK tested positive and was confirmed positive on the 28th of last month. The health authorities have identified that there have been no additional contacts beyond cohabiting family members so far.

According to the authorities, so far, there have been a total of 16 cases domestically, including 15 cases of the UK variant virus and 1 case of the South African variant virus. As the inflow of variant viruses has increased recently, the authorities decided from this day to require all foreigners entering through airports to submit a negative PCR test certificate.

Starting from the 12th, both foreigners and nationals entering from the UK and South Africa will be quarantined in temporary living facilities and undergo diagnostic testing even if they submit a negative PCR test certificate, and will remain in quarantine until a negative result is confirmed. The health authorities stated, "We will continuously conduct whole genome sequencing analysis on confirmed cases among entrants from countries where variant viruses have occurred to verify the presence of variants."

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