(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Choi In-young = The mandatory PCR test on the first day of arrival will also be lifted starting from the 1st of next month.

Lee Ki-il, the first general coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (Second Vice Minister of Health and Welfare), announced in his opening remarks at the headquarters on the 30th that "the mandatory PCR test within one day of arrival will be lifted for arrivals from 0:00 on October 1st."


Following the previous lifting of mandatory quarantine for arrivals and the lifting of pre-arrival testing, this measure means that all COVID-19 quarantine measures related to entry into the country will be removed.


Coordinator Lee explained that this decision was made considering that the confirmed case rate from overseas has dropped from 1.3% in August to 0.9% in September, and that the fatality rate of the BA.5 variant, which is currently the dominant strain, is low.


People who have COVID-19 symptoms within 3 days of arrival can receive a free PCR test at a public health center.

Coordinator Lee stated, "However, we will consider reintroduction if it becomes necessary to strengthen border control, such as if a variant with a high fatality rate emerges."

The government has also decided to re-permit in-person visits at infection-vulnerable facilities such as nursing hospitals and facilities, which had been restricted since July 25th due to the resurgence of COVID-19, starting from the 4th of next month.

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