South Korea hunts Chinese Covid-positive escapee who fled quarantine hotel
- The 41-year-old passenger, who tested positive for Covid on arrival, fled from a quarantine hotel on Yeongjong Island off the west coast of Incheon
- South Korean police said the Chinese national – last spotted at a discount store on the island – had declined to isolate
The passenger, 41, tested positive for the respiratory disease upon arrival at Incheon airport, the sole gateway for flights from China.
Police said the Chinese national declined to isolate and fled from a hotel on Yeongjong Island off the west coast of Incheon on Tuesday night.
CCTV footage showed the visitor was last seen at a discount store in the island’s Jung district, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported.
The individual, who was not identified, has been placed on a wanted list, health official Kim Joo-young said. The person could be subject to up to one year in prison, or 10 million won (US$7,840) in fines, if convicted of violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, he said.
“And the person would be deported and banned from entering the country for a certain period of time,” Kim told a media briefing.
Arrivals from China are required to produce a negative PCR test result within 48 hours of their departures – or results of rapid antigen tests within 24 hours – and undergo another PCR test upon arrival, South Korea announced last week.
Australia has ‘a lot of concern’ about China arrivals. Thailand, not so much?
Passengers who test positive are then required to quarantine at a government facility for seven days at their own cost.
South Korea has also restricted issuing short-term visas for Chinese nationals until the end of February and ordered a temporary halt on increasing the number of flights arriving from China.
From Saturday, travellers from Hong Kong and Macau will also be required to submit a negative result from a PCR test, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said earlier this week.
Going forward, we will dispatch more personnel including police to prevent this from recurring
A total of 2,189 people have arrived from China since January 2 and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 590 test results showed that 136 people, or 22.7 per cent of them, were infected with Covid. On Tuesday, 26 per cent of 281 people tested produced a positive result, agency data showed.
The KDCA said that China accounted for 31 per cent of imported Covid cases detected in South Korea last week.
The case of the missing Chinese national triggered questions in the media about South Korea’s system to control and manage infected inbound travellers.
Kim, the health official, expressed regret that authorities could not head off such an incident, calling it a “disgrace”.
“Going forward, we will dispatch more personnel including police to prevent this from recurring,” he said.
Can ‘economic common sense’ guide China, South Korea out of divisive doldrums?
The case also fuelled public debate on restrictions on people arriving from China.
“There needs to be more restrictions,” said Lee Jae-moon, 30, waiting for someone to arrive at Incheon airport. “Today’s incident underlines the seriousness of the situation.”
But another South Korean, Won Mi-kyong, 51, disagreed saying China was an important economic partner and South Korea should “open the door wider” to its people.
On Wednesday, South Korea logged 78,575 new Covid cases and 54 related deaths.
Additional reporting by Reuters
