'COVID-19 Pandemic' Fear, 55 Countries Ban Entry from Korea... Entry Barriers Rise

European countries that lifted restrictions are reinstating entry bans... Number of countries with lifted restrictions decreases from 25-26 to 20

On the 8th, when the special entry procedure for Korean and Japanese businesspeople was implemented, a travel advisory for countries with COVID-19 entry restrictions was displayed at the departure hall of Terminal 2, Incheon International Airport. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Following the government's strengthened social distancing measures, the number of new domestic COVID-19 cases has passed its peak and entered a downward trend, while many countries continue to maintain enhanced measures for travelers arriving from Korea. With growing fears of COVID-19 variants, these tightened entry restrictions are expected to remain in place for the time being.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the 9th, 167 countries are currently implementing entry restrictions related to COVID-19, maintaining last week's level. Among them, 55 countries have imposed entry bans on travelers from Korea. The number of countries enforcing entry bans, one of the strictest measures, began to increase from mid-last month when domestic new COVID-19 cases started to exceed the 1,000 mark.

Countries with entry bans include New Zealand, Taiwan, Mongolia, Malaysia, Macao, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Norway, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. Ten countries continue to enforce facility quarantine measures. These include Cambodia, Thailand, the United States, Tunisia, Mauritius, Burundi, and Benin.

The most relaxed measures, such as enhanced quarantine and advisory measures, are in place in 102 countries. These include Japan, which recently strengthened its quarantine measures, as well as India, Nepal, Pakistan, Mexico, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Greece, Denmark, Russia, Sweden, Spain, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Turkey, Poland, Lebanon, Iran, and Egypt.

The number of countries lifting entry-related restrictions, which once rose to 25-26, has sharply decreased to 20. This is due to a significant increase in new COVID-19 cases centered in Europe and the impact of fears over variant viruses. The Netherlands, Germany, Latvia, Romania, Austria, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, Portugal, and France remain among the countries that have lifted restrictions.

Korea is also working hard to prevent the influx of COVID-19 by extending the suspension period of flights. On the 6th, the government decided to extend the suspension of direct flights from the United Kingdom by an additional two weeks, until the 21st.

Quarantine for overseas arrivals has been strengthened by lowering the fever threshold applied to all entrants from 37.5°C to 37.3°C, and requiring two diagnostic tests within three days after entry and before release from quarantine. Additionally, starting from the 8th, all arrivals must submit a negative COVID-19 PCR test certificate. This measure will be implemented at ports starting from the 15th.

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