1379 New COVID-19 Cases Among Foreign Residents in Korea This Week... "Accounts for 11.1% of Total" (Update)

On the last day of the Liberation Day holiday, the 16th, a citizen is being tested at the temporary COVID-19 screening site set up at Anseong Rest Area in the Seoul direction. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] The number of new COVID-19 cases among foreigners residing in South Korea reached 1,379 in the past week.

On the 19th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that during the recent week (August 8?14), there were 1,379 new COVID-19 cases among foreigners residing in South Korea, accounting for 11.1% of the total confirmed cases.

At a regular briefing, Bae Gyeong-taek, head of the COVID-19 Vaccination Response Task Force Situation Team, stated, "The proportion of new foreign cases is relatively high compared to the fact that foreigners residing in the country make up 3.8% of the total resident registration population."

Bae explained, "Over the past eight weeks, the number of foreign cases has continuously increased, rising approximately 7.6 times compared to the same period, and increased by 46.7% compared to the previous week."

By region, 959 cases (69.5%) were reported in the Seoul metropolitan area, and 420 cases (30.5%) in non-metropolitan areas, with cases concentrated in the metropolitan area. In non-metropolitan areas, many confirmed cases were reported in the Chungcheong region with 167 cases (12.1%), Gyeongnam region with 90 cases (6.5%), and Gyeongbuk region with 81 cases (5.9%).

Looking at the nationalities of confirmed cases, many foreigners are from Asian countries such as Vietnam, China, Uzbekistan, and Thailand, and by age group, the majority of confirmed cases were among young people in their 20s and 30s.

Along with the increase in confirmed cases, new cluster outbreaks related to foreigners, which were 2 cases (166 people) in June, surged to 42 cases (1,201 people) in July and 22 cases (363 people) as of August 14.

Bae stated, "It is believed that foreigners have difficulties actively recognizing quarantine rules, are exposed to 3C environments (closed spaces, crowded places, close-contact settings) for extended periods in small businesses and poor living conditions, and that epidemiological investigations are challenging due to testing avoidance by undocumented foreigners."

He added, "The government plans to establish a vaccination support system for foreigners, develop customized quarantine guidelines for local governments, and promote thorough epidemiological investigations through proactive testing and cooperation between local governments and related ministries."

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