Mandatory quarantine for international arrivals is lifted from June 8
6월 8일부터 해외입국자의 격리의무 해제
PRESS RELEASE
June 3, 2022
The Central Disease Control Headquarters of Korea (CDCH, headed by Commissioner Baek Gyeongran) announced that all overseas entrants will be exempt from isolation starting from June 8, which is the final phase of the post-Omicron revision of entry regulations, in consideration of the continued downward trend in new COVID19 cases in the nation and the stable pandemic situation abroad.
The second phase of the post-Omicron revision became effective from June 1 on-wards, which reduced the number of mandatory tests at the time of entry into Korea to two.
Taking into account the increasingly stable pandemic control at home and abroad as well as recent global trends such as the isolation exemption for in-bound travelers by Germany, the UK, and Denmark, Korea will lift the quarantine requirement for all overseas entrants into the nation regardless of vaccination status and nationality.
*(As-Is) Fully vaccinated individuals exempt from isolation, while un-vaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals subject to mandatory 7day isolation.
While the new measure will apply retroactively for all overseas entrants as of the effective date of June 8, individuals who test positive for COVID-19 upon arrival will continue to be isolated.
However, as it remains necessary to closely monitor any developments regarding COVID19 given the confirmed cases of new Omicron variants such as BA.2.12.1 from in-bound travelers to Korea, the current COVID-19 testing requirement for overseas entrants to take tests both before and after entering the nation from abroad will be maintained.
(Before entry) Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test or Supervised Rapid Antigen Test (RAT); (After entry) PCR test within 3 days of entry
The Korean government will strive to encourage Korean nationals and foreign nationals with long-term stay visas to be tested free of charge at a public health center in the jurisdiction of the address of their residence or accommodation, and foreign nationals with short-term stay visas who enter the country for tourism or other reasons to get tested promptly at the airport testing center or other location (paid test).
In addition, since the number of travelers coming to Korea is increasing with the growing normalization of international flights, rigorous efforts for border measures will be maintained, such as thoroughly checking negative COVID19 test results at the time of boarding and prohibiting passengers without a negative or valid test result from boarding the flight.
Meanwhile, in preparation for the increasing number of overseas entrants into Korea, it will be strongly encouraged for them to use the pre-entry quarantine system (Q-Code) through airlines and travel agencies (Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport) to shorten their waiting time for entry and enable efficient followup management.
Simplifying the information content in Q-Code will help enhance user convenience and thus increase its use rate to 80% (currently 60%).
(As-Is) Pre-entry negative test results (PCR, etc.), health condition, vaccination history, and quarantine exemption certificate information → (To-Be) Pre-entry negative test results and health condition information only
CDCH has urged all overseas entrants to comply with the nation’s entry requirements given the risk of inflow of new infectious diseases such as monkeypox as well as coronavirus variants.
As the number of overseas travelers arriving in Korea is expected to increase further with the revision of entry requirements and the normalization of international flight services, more efforts will be made to closely monitor developments in the pandemic situation at home and abroad by allocating a larger workforce to quarantine procedures and thoroughly managing overseas entrants, which together will contribute to reinforcing Korea’s response system to prevent the inflow of any new coronavirus variants.
In addition, CDCH stated that in the event of an emergency such as WHO’s announcement of novel variants of concern or a new wave of COVID19, it will quickly respond by tightening the controls of overseas entrants.
// For inquiries contact Media Relations, Ministry of Health and Welfare
044-202-2047 or fairytale@korea.kr
http://www.mohw.go.kr/react/al/sal0301vw.jsp?PAR_MENU_ID=04&MENU_ID=0403&page=1&CONT_SEQ=371691
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