Health authorities will finalize a plan to exempt overseas entrants who have completed their COVID-19 vaccinations from the 7-day self-quarantine, possibly as early as this weekend.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the exemption from quarantine for overseas entrants will initially apply to those with vaccination records in Korea.

"Eligible vaccines are expected to be limited to those approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). Consequently, individuals vaccinated with China's Sinopharm or Sinovac will be exempt from quarantine, while those vaccinated with Russia's Sputnik V may be excluded from the exemption," the report stated.

Currently, Koreans and long-term foreign residents entering the country from overseas must undergo a 7-day self-quarantine, while short-term foreign visitors are subject to a 7-day facility quarantine.

In relation to this, Jeong Eun-kyeong, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), stated at a regular press briefing for reporters on the 28th of last month, "We are considering exempting fully vaccinated entrants from self-quarantine." She added, "We believe the objective of maximally delaying the domestic spread of the Omicron variant through quarantine of overseas entrants has been achieved. We will proceed with these measures at an appropriate time.".

The exemption from submitting a PCR negative confirmation certificate for overseas entrants will also take effect starting today (7th).

The KDCA announced that from 0:00 today, Koreans who tested positive for COVID-19 within 10 to 40 days prior to their departure date and have a treatment history will be managed as exceptions for the submission of a "PCR negative confirmation certificate.".

As a result, Koreans arriving in Korea from overseas with such a history will no longer need to present a PCR negative confirmation certificate before boarding an aircraft.

To prove this, documents such as a quarantine notice or a quarantine release certificate issued domestically or internationally, with the confirmed date, can be submitted.

Health authorities have mandated the submission of a negative confirmation certificate upon entry for all entrants since July of last year to prevent the influx of COVID-19 confirmed cases from overseas.

The management of overseas entrants using the "Self-Quarantine Safety Protection App" was also discontinued on the 21st of last month. As a result, overseas entrants are no longer required to install the app at airports, ports, or local government offices.

Starting from this date, health authorities have also made it unnecessary for overseas entrants arriving at Incheon Airport via the Quarantine Information Advance Input System (Q-CODE system) to submit the health status questionnaire and special quarantine declaration form completed on the aircraft to the Incheon Airport quarantine desk. This was initially applied preferentially to overseas entrants on flights (5 airlines, 48 flights in total) subject to the test operation of the Q-CODE system, but it will be expanded to the entire month of March.

Article Source: ⓒJTBC

These are English translations of articles from our GTTOUR Japanese website.