Quarantine bolter nabbed in hotel in downtown Seoul

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Quarantine bolter nabbed in hotel in downtown Seoul

Published: 05 Jan. 2023, 18:20

A Chinese man who escaped a state-run quarantine facility in Incheon on Tuesday night after testing positive for the coronavirus, center, is escorted back to the facility on Thursday. Police nabbed the suspect at a hotel in central Seoul. [YONHAP]

A 41-year-old Chinese man who escaped quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus at Incheon International Airport was nabbed at a hotel in downtown Seoul on Thursday afternoon.

Local police did not disclose why he bolted or even his reason for coming to Korea, but said the suspect visited Korea five times in the past. Yonhap reported that the man told customs officials at the airport he was here for medical purposes.

Police escorted the man back to the state-run quarantine facility in Incheon from which he escaped on Tuesday night and pledged to investigate him once he completes his week-long mandatory isolation period.

If charged with violating Korea’s Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, he could face up to a year in prison or a fine of up to 10 million won ($7,900), deportation and restrictions on future entry into the country.

Police said the man arrived at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday for short-term travel. During a compulsory PCR test for the coronavirus at the airport, he tested positive and was sent to an isolation facility on a chartered bus.

CCTV footage retrieved from the facility shows the man getting off the bus six minutes after it parked outside the facility and bolting away. The last time he was caught on camera was moving toward a supermarket 300 meters (328 yards) away from the facility. Police believe he took a taxi from there straight to Seoul.

The escape made front-page headlines this week. Officials from the office of Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Han personally called the police chief earlier Thursday to urge him to find the fugitive as quickly as possible.

The suspect is among 239 short-term travelers from China who tested positive at Incheon International Airport between Monday and Wednesday as new Covid restrictions on Chinese arrivals went into effect.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced Thursday that among 327 short-term Chinese travelers who were tested at the airport on Wednesday, 103 people, or about 31.5 percent, turned out positive – higher than Monday’s positive rate of 20 percent and Tuesday’s 26 percent.

Health officials said they expect fewer Covid patients from China to fly in from Thursday now that they have to submit negative Covid test results before boarding flights.

The pre-boarding negative test result must be from a PCR test taken within 48 hours of boarding or from a rapid antigen test issued by a clinic 24 hours before boarding. The same rule will be applied to travelers from Hong Kong and Macau starting Saturday.

Those exempted from submitting negative Covid test results before boarding are children under six years old; people who are returning from a funeral or official business and received an exemption certificate from a Korean embassy for the stated purpose; flight crew; and Korean nationals who have recently recovered from Covid, which they must prove.

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