PCR test to be waived for Covid-recovered foreigners

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PCR test to be waived for Covid-recovered foreigners

A temporary Covid-19 testing center at Seoul Station in central Seoul is empty on Monday after Korea's Covid-19 cases hit 127,190. [YONHAP]

A temporary Covid-19 testing center at Seoul Station in central Seoul is empty on Monday after Korea's Covid-19 cases hit 127,190. [YONHAP]

 
Foreigners living in Korea who had Covid-19 will no longer have to submit a negative PCR test when they return from a trip abroad.
 
The new rule goes into effect April 11.
 
Previously, only Korean nationals who recovered from Covid-19 within 10 to 40 days of departure date were exempted from the requirement. The exemption will now apply to foreigners living here who have records of a Covid-19 infection in Korea, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced Monday.
 
Foreigners will be exempted from PCR tests only if they were infected in Korea. Korean nationals can have overseas Covid-19 infection records recognized. 
 
Long-term foreign residents will have to submit an Alien Registration Card (ARC), a Permanent Resident Card or certificate of domestic residence in Korea, and a notice of isolation from when they were sick to be exempted. The date of the Covid-19 infection on the isolation notice must be within 10 to 40 days of the departure date.
 
From March 7, the country allowed recovered Korean nationals who caught the virus within 10 to 40 days of departure date to be exempt from this requirement. Koreans with overseas Covid-19 infection history have also been accepted.
 
Amid a loosening of public health measures, Korea’s number of daily Covid-19 additions dropped to the 100,000s for the first time in ten days.
 
 
The country reported 127,190 new Covid-19 cases on Monday, falling by 107,111 from the previous day, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). The total caseload now stands at 14,001,406.
 
Cases decreased by 32 percent from last Monday, or 39 percent compared to two Mondays ago.
 
However, health authorities warned that the drop reflections the usual drop in tests conducted over weekends, and warned that cases will rebound from Wednesday.
 
The government relaxed social distancing measures on Monday, including an extension of curfews on restaurants, cafes and other businesses from 11 p.m. to midnight, and expanded the cap on private gatherings to 10 people from the previous eight.
 
The number of critically ill patients and deaths from Covid-19, however, are still high.
 
The number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients totaled 1,108 as of Sunday midnight, down 20 from the previous day, but remaining over 1,000. The death toll increased by 218.
 
Health authorities forecast that these two figures will decline from next week.
 
“Severe cases and fatalities are expected to peak this week or next week,” Son Young-rae, senior epidemiological strategist at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters, said in a TBS radio interview on Monday.
 
Health authorities have explained that a peak in severe cases and fatalities comes two to three weeks after a peak in infections.
 
Korea’s Covid daily count has been on a gradual downturn after hitting a peak at daily averages of 405,000 in the third week of March. The average number of new Covid-19 cases in a day throughout the past week fell to 285,000 as of Monday.
 
The government had forecast a peak of 1,300 to 1,800 patients in critical condition, but Son said it is unlikely to go that high, saying "cases are expected to peak at a lower point and then come down."

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]
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