Arrival testing rules change for short-term visitors to Korea

Foreigners wait to get tested for the coronavirus at a testing site in Incheon International Airport on Wednesday. [YONHAP]

Foreigners arriving at the Incheon, Gimhae and Jeju airports for short-term stays will have to take PCR tests for Covid at an airport testing site within a day they arrive.

The changed policy went into effect Wednesday and will last through Sept. 9 at Incheon International Airport, Jeju International Airport and Busan’s Gimhae International Airport.

Under the previous system, foreigners on short-term stays were allowed to get tested either at an airport testing site or a medical institute near their hotels.

Rules on pre-departure testing remain the same. All travelers entering Korea must submit negative Covid-19 results from a PCR or a supervised RAT (rapid antigen test) test before boarding their flights, though there are a few exceptions.

In explaining why testing regulations for short-term stays have been tightened, Korean health authorities cited rising Covid cases across the country and fears of new variants entering with international travelers.

Foreigners touching down in Korea for short-term stays have risen in recent weeks. An average of 4,669 such people arrived in Korea each day in June and 5,245 in July. In August, the figure is expected to increase to about 5,800.

Local health officials said they will monitor the situation and see whether the policy will be maintained or eased after Sept. 9.

For the first time ever, imported Covid cases – or the number of people who are believed to have caught the virus abroad before landing in Korea – exceeded 600 on Tuesday. The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced Wednesday that 615 people who recently arrived from a foreign country tested positive for the coronavirus on Tuesday, 27 more than on Monday.

All in all, a total of 151,792 people tested positive for the virus across the nation on Tuesday, including the imported cases, the highest figure in nearly four months. Tuesday’s total figure was 1,895 more than Monday’s. It was also 1.27 times higher than a week before and 1.51 times higher than two weeks before.

With the current sixth wave of the pandemic showing no signs of slowing down, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) raised its expected number of daily cases for the peak to 200,000, up from 150,000. That peak has been predicted to arrive late this month, as more people leave home to travel during summer vacations.

There were 402 Covid patients in critical or serious condition on Tuesday, 38 more than the day before. It was the first time in nearly three months that the figure was over 400. Approximately 85 percent of all such cases are known to be 60 or above, the high-risk group.

Fifty people died, 10 more than the day prior, with a majority being patients in their 80s or older.

On another front of Korea’s battle with the pandemic, the National Assembly speaker’s office said Bill Gates will visit the parliament on Tuesday morning to deliver a speech to lawmakers urging Korea’s help in the global health sector.

Gates, co-founder of Microsoft and co-chairperson of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, will come to Korea for the first time in nine years at the invitation of National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo, Kim’s office said in a statement.

BY LEE SUNG-EUN [lee.sungeun@joongang.co.kr]