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| A woman submits documents to quarantine officials at Incheon International Airport, Wednesday. Yonhap |
By Lee Hyo-jin
All travelers entering Korea, including Korean nationals, are required to submit negative COVID-19 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test results starting Wednesday in order to curb the influx of new variants, according to health authorities.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said all arrivals, regardless of their nationality, must submit negative PCR test results conducted within 72 hours prior to their departure for Korea.
The document must be in hard copy form issued in English or Korean. If it cannot be issued in either language, a supplemental translated version certifying the translation should be submitted along with the original test result.
Transfer passengers passing through Korea without entering are excluded from the rule.
Foreign nationals who fail to hand in the test results will be barred from entering. Korean citizens who do not submit negative PCR test results will be tested at a temporary living facility and be required to self-isolate for 14 days at their own expense.
In addition to taking the PCR test before entering the country, incoming travelers will be tested two more times in Korea ― once within a day after arrival, and another during the self-isolation period.
The strengthened regulations are part of efforts to effectively control the influx of highly contagious new strains, which are possibly more lethal.
Since Korea detected the first case of the mutated variant from Britain on Dec. 28, a total of 128 people have been confirmed with new variants, including 83 Korean nationals, as of Tuesday.
Among them, 109 cases were the British variant, 13 from South Africa and six from Brazil.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the mutant virus from Britain has spread to 94 countries worldwide as of Feb. 15. The mutant strains from South Africa and Brazil have been detected in 46 and 21 countries, respectively.
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