Coronavirus: South Korea to to lift quarantine rule for unvaccinated foreign travellers on June 8
- The government will still maintain the requirement of a negative PCR test result before entry and a PCR test within 72 hours after arrival
- Decision comes as Covid infections in the country have been steadily declining, and following the lifting of an outdoor face mask regulation
South Korea’s prime minister on Friday said the country would lift its quarantine requirement for foreign arrivals without vaccination and also start lifting aviation regulations imposed for international flights.
“While there was a seven-day quarantine obligation for non-vaccinated foreign arrivals until now, such requirement will be eliminated from June 8 regardless of their vaccination status,” Prime Minister Han Duck-soo told a pandemic response meeting, adding the country’s Covid-19 situation had stabilised.
However, visitors will still be required to take a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test or a rapid antigen test before entering the country and another PCR test will be required within three days of arrival.
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The lifting of the regulation came as Covid-19 infections in the country have been steadily declining over the past few weeks. Daily infection cases for Thursday stood at 12,542, down by 4,038 cases from May 27 and also down by 12,578 from May 20, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The agency lifted the outdoor face mask regulation in early May except in crowded places after seeing the continuing downtrend of Covid-19 cases.
The government’s decision was based on a stabilised infection trend, plus the medical support measures for Covid-19 patients throughout the country, allowing South Korea to recover to something more closely resembling a pre-pandemic era.
This has been carried out as quickly as possible to minimise the public’s inconvenience, according to the prime minister who attended the KDCA’s meeting at the Government Complex in Seoul on Friday.
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“The downward trend was evident this week as well, and available hospital beds are maintained at a rate of 90 per cent, keeping the medical service at hospitals up and running safely for Covid-19 patients,” Han said at the meeting. “The central government will now boost supporting psychological consultations for the mental health of those who suffered from the disease, including economically vulnerable groups.”
Han added that measures placed on Incheon International Airport to control the volume of inbound flights to minimise the risk of Covid-19 contagion within the country’s largest airport will be lifted as of June 8. With the stabilised disease trend, the airport no longer needs to limit the number of flights. The measures had prevented the airport from meeting a sharp increase in travel demand recently.
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The measures placed on the airport created inconveniences like a shortage of available aeroplane tickets that led to a surge in prices.
“With the lifting of the airport regulations on June 8, Incheon airport will provide flights to everyone whenever they want,” Han said.
The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation also announced on Friday that international flight schedules at Incheon airport will return to normal, providing an unlimited number of flights to overseas travellers. It’s been two years and two months since the ministry limited the hourly inbound flight volume at the airport, reducing it from 40 to 20.
The ministry will also start operating the airport on a 24-hour schedule as of June 8, thereby cancelling the “curfew” on the international flight schedule that was in place at the airport from 8pm to 5am.
“More flights will be available and flight schedules will diversify in no time,” the ministry said. “People will be able to pursue various destinations at affordable prices once more.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
