"COVID-19 Testing for Arrivals from China to End Next Month... Positive Rate at 0.6%"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Byeon Seon-jin] Following the stabilization of the COVID-19 situation in China, the government has decided to lift the mandatory post-arrival COVID-19 PCR testing requirement for travelers arriving from China starting next month on the 1st.

On the 22nd, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters stated, “We have determined that the risk is not significant due to a sharp decrease in confirmed cases and deaths in China, no detection of concerning variants, and a decline in the positive rate among arrivals from China,” explaining the reason for lifting the post-arrival testing requirement for travelers from China. Since the 2nd of last month, the quarantine authorities had required travelers arriving from China to undergo immediate COVID-19 testing at the Incheon Airport testing center. With the lifting of the post-arrival testing requirement, the measure that centralized all flights from China to Incheon Airport will also be lifted on the same day.

However, the mandatory pre-arrival testing and Q-code input requirements will be extended until the 10th of next month. The government plans to terminate these measures after evaluating the impact of discontinuing other quarantine measures.

At a briefing on the same day, Lim Sook-young, the Situation General Manager of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, said, “We will monitor data released from China, information obtained through the World Health Organization (WHO), and the positive rate data of arrivals from China. If the current stable trend continues, we will consider further lifting of measures.” The positive rate among arrivals from China was 0.6% (71 confirmed cases out of 12,738 people) for the period from the 12th to the 18th, showing a decrease of 0.1 percentage points compared to the previous week (5th to 11th), indicating a continuing downward trend.

The government plans to gradually increase the number of international flights between Korea and China to 100 flights per week, in line with the bilateral agreement, starting next month. Due to strengthened quarantine measures for arrivals from China last month, the number of flights decreased from 65 to 62, but it will be increased to 80 flights per week by the end of this month.

Regarding whether the easing of quarantine measures for arrivals from China could be reinstated if the COVID-19 situation in China worsens, Lim said, “Not only for arrivals from China but also domestic quarantine measures could be reinstated if the quarantine situation deteriorates,” adding, “We will proceed according to the situation,” expressing a general stance.

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