COVID-19 and M-Fox Quarantine Management Areas All Lifted from the 15th

Reflecting the stabilization of the COVID-19 pandemic, the designation of all countries worldwide as COVID-19 quarantine management areas will be lifted as of the 15th.

Incheon International Airport Terminal 1 Duty-Free Zone stock photo. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced on the 12th that, following a review by the Quarantine Expert Committee in the second half of the year, quarantine management areas for quarantine infectious diseases including COVID-19 will be lifted.

Quarantine management areas are designated to implement quarantine responses by assessing the risk level of infectious diseases by country. COVID-19 was designated as a quarantine management area for all countries worldwide in July 2020, and this designation is being lifted after three years.

The KDCA originally planned to lift the quarantine management area designation as part of the second phase of lowering the legal infectious disease classification for COVID-19, but reflecting the current trend of stabilization in quarantine measures, it has decided to lift it early to alleviate public inconvenience.

In addition, Mpox (monkeypox) will also be removed from the quarantine management areas, considering the global decrease in patient numbers, the fact that most symptoms are mild, and the limited transmission routes.

With the lifting of the quarantine management area designation, travelers entering from countries outside the quarantine management areas will no longer be required to fill out and submit a health status questionnaire separately, and symptom checks will be conducted through fever screening. However, for newly designated quarantine management areas by infectious disease?such as Ebola virus (2 countries), animal influenza human infections (2 countries), Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (13 countries), and cholera (26 countries)?submission of a health status questionnaire is still required.

Furthermore, the KDCA will launch a pilot project for infectious disease surveillance based on sewage at airports and seaports starting on the 15th. Through environmental testing, the occurrence of overseas infectious disease pathogens will be detected, enabling rapid responses such as timely adjustments to quarantine management areas, thereby supplementing the existing symptom-based quarantine system and strengthening surveillance of overseas infectious disease inflows.

Ji Young-mi, Director of the KDCA, stated, "Despite the return to normal life with COVID-19, the risk of overseas infectious disease inflow remains, and we will contribute to realizing a safe and healthy society for the public by continuously monitoring and preventing the inflow of overseas infectious diseases."

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