Government "Considering Expansion of Special Entry Procedures Applied to China"
Patients Visiting Hospitals and Pharmacies Also Provide Travel History to Singapore, Thailand, etc.
On the 4th, passengers arriving on flights from China are entering through a dedicated immigration area at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1, wearing masks. / Yeongjongdo - Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The government is considering expanding the special entry procedures currently applied only to Koreans and foreigners entering from China to include Hong Kong and Macau as well. The special entry procedures are a quarantine system created targeting China, where the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) first broke out, and this move is interpreted as a response to concerns that travelers entering via Hong Kong and Macau from China were bypassing the quarantine network.
Kim Kang-lip, Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said at a briefing on the 11th, "We have discussed and reviewed the plan to expand the special entry procedures," adding, "Since this is a quarantine-related measure, the Central Disease Control Headquarters, which is in charge of quarantine, will explain the specific details this afternoon."
Since the 4th, the government has been implementing a special entry procedure system by establishing a separate entry gate exclusively for China, requiring all Koreans and foreigners entering Korea from China to leave their domestic residence and actual contact information. Currently, this applies to passengers and crew members who use aircraft or ships departing from mainland China. However, in the case of Hong Kong or Macau, where travel to and from China is frequent, travelers entering via Hong Kong and Macau from China do not undergo the special entry procedures.
The 25th and 26th confirmed patients, identified on the 9th, stayed in Guangdong Province, China, and entered the country via Macau. This couple only underwent the general level of quarantine as if they were from a country outside China. Guangdong Province has the second highest number of novel coronavirus patients after Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located.
Additionally, the government decided to gradually expand from today the system that allows medical institutions and pharmacies to check patients' travel histories, focusing on countries where community infections outside China have been confirmed. Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and Macau are included starting today, with Japan from the 13th, and Taiwan and Malaysia from the 17th. This is possible through the eligibility inquiry for health insurance subscribers, the Overseas Travel History Information Provision Program (ITS), and the Drug Utilization Review (DUR) service.
Currently, only China is subject to this, and it is difficult to verify at the provincial level within China. Until last month, the rate of information inquiries by medical institutions was only about half of all patients, but now it has reached 97% (as of the 10th), indicating that most medical institutions are actively participating, the government said.
Deputy Head Kim explained, "This is a method of providing information linked with immigration data, but expanding it all at once to all overseas travel histories is difficult due to system capacity and connection issues with the information providers, so it is being expanded step by step."
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