[Report] The End of the COVID-19 Pandemic... The Busy Atmosphere at Airport Quarantine Stations Is Expected to Change

On the 3rd, tourists are arriving at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

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At around 1:20 PM on the 2nd at the first quarantine counter of Incheon Airport Quarantine Station, COVID-19 and other major infectious disease screenings were underway for 167 passengers arriving on Asiana Airlines from Nagoya, Japan. It took about 10 minutes to screen all incoming passengers. During the height of the COVID-19 crisis in 2020-2021, it took 1 to 2 hours to screen all passengers on a flight. The drastic reduction in screening time is due to the introduction of the Quarantine Information Pre-Entry System (Q-CODE) in March last year, which allows passengers to pre-register their health status questionnaire?including symptoms like fever, chills, and headaches?and their departure country and Korean residence address before arrival. Thanks to this, asymptomatic passengers can quickly leave the airport by simply scanning a QR code and having their temperature checked at the quarantine counter.

A quarantine staff member said, "During the peak of COVID-19, each passenger had to fill out and submit health status questionnaires and special quarantine declaration forms manually, which took 5 to 10 minutes per person." This caused considerable dissatisfaction among passengers who had already completed many flight procedures. Shin Gyu-hyung, a quarantine officer at the National Incheon Airport Quarantine Station, said, "Since quarantine is the first thing passengers encounter upon entering the airport, many expressed strong complaints to the quarantine officers."

Quarantine serves as the first line of defense to prevent viruses from overseas from entering the country. According to the Central Quarantine Medical Support Center, since the operation of isolation, testing, and waiting facilities for suspected quarantine infectious disease patients at quarantine stations in March 2020, 4,032 out of 32,385 admitted individuals (12.5% as of April 30) tested positive. When a new infectious disease emerges, symptomatic individuals are quickly isolated to buy time for Korea’s medical response. Im Suk-young, Director of the Infectious Disease Crisis Response Division at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said, "During last year’s global Omicron outbreak, it took only one month for Omicron to become the dominant strain overseas, but thanks to effective quarantine, it took two months in Korea."

Currently, COVID-19 quarantine involves screening all incoming passengers at the first quarantine counter, with symptomatic individuals required to complete a basic epidemiological investigation form. After case classification, they are moved to isolation facilities for PCR testing; if positive, they are transferred to national isolation treatment beds, and if negative, they are allowed to return home. This is called the 'all-round quarantine system' developed after COVID-19.

A hypothetical scenario showing the completion of a basic epidemiological investigation form at Incheon Airport Quarantine Station for symptomatic individuals only.

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With the international public health emergency (PHEIC) status for COVID-19 lifted after 3 years and 4 months, health authorities plan to ease quarantine measures. According to the COVID-19 crisis level adjustment roadmap announced in March, if the crisis level is adjusted this month, the recommendation for PCR testing within 3 days will be removed (Phase 1), and if the infectious disease classification is downgraded from Level 2 to Level 4 (Phase 2), quarantine will shift from universal screening to targeting symptomatic individuals. When full endemic status is reached (Phase 3), quarantine management zones will be lifted. Phase 2 is expected around July, and Phase 3 next year.

The importance of quarantine does not diminish just because the COVID-19 pandemic has ended. The emergence cycle of new infectious diseases is shortening, as seen with the 2009 H1N1 flu, 2015 MERS, and 2020 COVID-19. Even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends, new infectious diseases may appear soon after. Authorities plan to continue quarantine through wastewater surveillance and aircraft hygiene inspection systems, while strengthening field response capabilities through infectious disease response drills and scenario-based training. Kim Jong-hyun, Operations Planning Team Leader at Incheon International Airport, said, "As COVID-19 stabilizes, recent airport passenger usage has recovered to about 80% of the peak season in 2019, and full airport operations are expected to normalize by July. However, if COVID-19 variants or new infectious diseases emerge requiring changes in quarantine response systems, we will continue to provide timely support for quarantine resources as before."

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