[Q&A] "From April, Community Self-Quarantine Estimated at 7,000 People per Day"

Jung Eun-kyung, Head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] To reduce the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) entering the country from overseas, starting from the 1st of next month, all domestic and foreign nationals entering Korea will be required to undergo a mandatory 2-week self-quarantine. The quarantine authorities expect that, excluding short-term foreign visitors who will be quarantined in temporary facilities, about 7,000 people per day will carry out self-quarantine within the local community.

Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19, said at a regular briefing on the afternoon of the 30th, "An average of 7,500 to 8,000 people enter the country daily, of which about 10 to 15% are foreigners," adding, "Since short-term foreign visitors will be quarantined in facilities, the estimated number of people who will self-quarantine in the community is about 7,000 to 7,500."

As of midnight on the same day, among the total 9,661 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Korea, 476 were imported cases. Of these, 436 (91.6%) were identified as Korean nationals. According to the quarantine authorities, currently, among overseas arrivals, an average of 300 to 350 people per day show suspected COVID-19 symptoms, and among them, 20 to 30 are confirmed positive. Head Jung emphasized, "Although the number of symptomatic arrivals is increasing due to the rise in overseas entries, there is no strain on the quarantine capacity to isolate and conduct diagnostic tests on these individuals."

Below is the Q&A with Head Jung Eun-kyung regarding self-quarantine for overseas arrivals

- Is there any problem with diagnostic testing capacity despite the increase in symptomatic overseas arrivals?

▲ Recently, as COVID-19 has spread worldwide, the proportion of symptomatic individuals at the time of entry has significantly increased. Previously, when the overseas outbreak was not severe, about 40 to 50 symptomatic individuals were tested daily. At that time, there were almost no positive cases among the symptomatic individuals. It was judged that these were symptoms similar to common colds or influenza. However, as community infections have spread in various countries recently, the positivity rate among symptomatic arrivals has risen sharply. Also, the proportion of people reporting symptoms out of concern for COVID-19 has increased. Currently, about 300 to 350 symptomatic reports are received daily at airports, with about 20 to 30 confirmed positive cases. For symptomatic individuals, separate temporary quarantine facilities are continuously expanded, where they wait for about 1 to 2 days until test results are available. After confirming the results, they are allowed to enter the community. There is no significant difficulty in conducting such quarantine and testing. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has reinforced testing equipment and personnel at the Incheon Airport quarantine station to carry out these tests.

- What is the estimated daily number of total arrivals and the corresponding number of people subject to self-quarantine according to the quarantine authorities?

▲ The number of arrivals is continuously decreasing, with about 7,500 to 8,000 people entering daily. The proportion of foreigners varies by country but is about 10 to 15%. Since short-term foreign visitors are quarantined in facilities, the number of people subject to self-quarantine in the community is estimated to be about 7,000 to 7,500 per day. Many other countries are also taking measures such as restricting foreign arrivals, and the number of departures from Korea is also decreasing, so the number of people subject to self-quarantine is roughly estimated to be around 7,000 per day.

- Besides asymptomatic foreigners arriving from Europe, who can use the open-type screening clinic installed at Incheon Airport?

▲ Currently, there are two types of screening clinics at Incheon Airport. One is for collecting specimens from about 300 to 350 symptomatic individuals daily. The newly installed open-type screening clinic conducts tests on asymptomatic individuals. Among asymptomatic arrivals from Europe, both short-term and long-term foreign visitors, as well as asymptomatic short-term foreign visitors from the United States, are tested at Incheon Airport. Starting April 1, since the self-quarantine requirement will apply to all arrivals, testing through the airport screening clinic will also be conducted for short-term foreign visitors arriving from countries other than Europe and the United States.