Government Extends Suspension of Flights from the UK for 2 Weeks

The domestic terminal at Gimpo Airport in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, is bustling with passengers on the 9th, two days before the nation's biggest holiday, the Lunar New Year holiday. / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] The government will extend the suspension of flights from the United Kingdom to block the domestic inflow of COVID-19 variant viruses.

According to quarantine authorities on the 10th, the suspension of direct flights from the UK, which was scheduled until the 11th, will be extended for two weeks until the 25th of this month.

Earlier, as variant viruses were repeatedly reported in the UK, the government temporarily suspended flights departing from London Heathrow Airport to Incheon International Airport from December 23 to 31 last year and has continued to extend this suspension.

The variant virus spreading in the UK and other regions is known to be about 1.7 times more transmissible than the existing virus. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), as of the 9th, the UK variant virus has been detected in 86 countries worldwide. Among the 80 cases confirmed domestically, 64 were infected with the UK variant virus.

Meanwhile, all domestic and foreign nationals entering from countries where variant viruses are prevalent, including the UK, South Africa, and Brazil, must submit a negative PCR test certificate upon entry. After arrival, they are moved to temporary living facilities for testing and are tested again before quarantine release. Additionally, starting from the 24th, quarantine authorities plan to require all overseas entrants to submit a negative PCR test certificate and, in principle, suspend the quarantine exemption system for countries where variant viruses have emerged.

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