Face-to-Face Visits Allowed at Care Facilities Upon Completion of COVID-19 Vaccination

Exemption from Self-Quarantine for Overseas Arrivals

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] From now on, after completing COVID-19 vaccination, family members will be able to visit patients face-to-face at nursing hospitals and facilities. Starting from the 5th of next month, those who have completed vaccination will not be required to self-quarantine for 2 weeks upon entering the country from abroad.

According to the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Promotion Team on the 29th, the government has decided to exempt people who have completed COVID-19 vaccination from self-quarantine even if they have had close contact with confirmed cases, provided they test negative and show no suspicious symptoms. Instead, they must undergo "active monitoring" by reporting daily for 2 weeks whether they have fever or respiratory symptoms, and must take two PCR tests during this period.

Currently, two types of vaccines, AstraZeneca and Pfizer, are being administered domestically. This exemption applies to those who have completed both the first and second doses of these vaccines and have passed the 2-week antibody formation period. However, those entering from countries where the South African or Brazilian variant viruses are spreading must self-quarantine for 2 weeks. Even if vaccination was completed overseas, the exemption from self-quarantine is not granted domestically. Both the first and second doses must be administered within Korea.

Even adults who have completed vaccination must have young children or adolescents who have not been vaccinated self-quarantine if they enter the country together. The government explained that, for the time being, even if vaccination has been completed overseas, the verification of vaccination certificates or reliable methods have not yet been established domestically, so these individuals are not included in the exemption from self-quarantine. Once mutual verification standards and specific procedures are established, the scope of exemptions will be expanded.

The government also plans to allow face-to-face visits by family members at nursing hospitals and facilities once vaccination is completed. Kwon Deok-cheol, 1st Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of Health and Welfare), stated on the day, "We will continue to expand daily recovery measures for those who have completed vaccination," and added, "We also plan to allow limited contact visits for those who have completed vaccination under certain conditions."

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, as of midnight on the day, 680 new COVID-19 cases were reported. Among them, 225 were in Seoul, 176 in Gyeonggi, and 22 in Incheon, totaling 423 cases in the metropolitan area, accounting for 65% of locally transmitted cases.

In particular, the proportion of cases with unknown infection routes, where it is unclear when and where the infection occurred, has reached 30%. The government plans to announce adjustments to social distancing measures, to be applied from next week, this weekend or as early as the 30th. As of midnight on the day, 220,729 new vaccinations were administered, bringing the total number of people who have completed the first dose to 2,808,794. This means 5.41% of the entire population has completed the first dose.

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