PCR test requirement for travelers being junked

Travelers wait in line at Incheon International Airport on Sunday. [YONHAP]

It will soon be a little easier to enter Korea from abroad.

Starting May 23, cheaper and more easily-found rapid antigen Covid-19 tests will be accepted for boarding a flight to Korea and entering the country, not just polymerase chain reaction (PCR) results.

From June 1, the number of Covid tests needed to be taken after arrival will be reduced to only one PCR test within three days of arrival.

Currently, arrivals have to submit a negative PCR test result taken within 48 hours of departure, take a PCR test within 24 hours of entry and a rapid antigen test on the sixth or seventh day.

These rules are for all arrivals including tourists and returning residents.

The Central Disease Control Headquarter described the looser entry rules last Friday.

The PCR test requirement was a real hassle and a major expense. They cost around $150 to 300 and were hard to find.

From May 23, a negative rapid antigen test result will be needed, but within 24 hours of departure.

In terms of tests taken after arrival, the rapid antigen test to be conducted on Day 6 or 7 will no longer be mandatory and will instead be “recommended.” The PCR test — which were previously required to be taken within 24 hours of entry — can be taken within three days.

“It became difficult to get a PCR test or there’s a lot of cost involved, so controversy is flaring over equity,” explained Son Young-rae, senior epidemiological strategist at the Central Disaster Management Headquarters, during Friday’s press briefing.

Still, only rapid antigen tests carried out by medical professionals in clinics or hospitals will be valid, not home tests.

“[The measures] are meant to replace PCR tests, and only rapid antigen tests conducted by medical experts are accepted,” Son explained.

In addition, children's exemptions for quarantine after arriving in Korea will be expanded.

Children under 12 will be exempted from quarantine if all guardians who enter the country with them are fully vaccinated. The current rule exempted children under 6.

Health authorities also decided to ease the quarantine exemptions for teenagers between the ages of 12 to 17 as long as they have received a second vaccine dose.

To qualify for a quarantine exemption, inbound travelers need proof of three shots, or two with the second being administered more than 14 days and fewer than 180 days prior to entry. But for adolescents between the ages of 12 to 17, third shots are recommended only for high-risk groups such as the immunocompromised or those with underlying diseases.

“The government will gradually improve the overseas immigration management system and respond more strongly to new variants flowing in from abroad,” said Park Hyang, director of antivirus measures at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters.

Korea pledged to increase the number of international flights from 532 in a week to 762 along with the growing demand for travel. It is trying to get the number of international flights to 50 percent of the pre-pandemic level of 2019 by the end of this year.

The country reported 25,434 new Covid-19 cases on Sunday, the first time in 15 weeks for a Sunday figure to be below 30,000 since Jan. 30.

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