[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] As a new variant of the coronavirus (COVID-19) spreads in the United Kingdom, more than 50 countries worldwide have imposed entry restrictions on travelers from the UK, and our government has decided to temporarily suspend flights with the UK until the end of the year. This unprecedented measure was taken by the government, which had shown a lukewarm attitude toward entry restrictions across China during the first wave, to respond to the variant virus that is more transmissible than the existing virus.
Yoon Tae-ho, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters' quarantine team, announced on the 23rd, "From today until the 31st, flights with the UK will be temporarily suspended."
Government ministries and agencies prepared this response plan at a meeting held the previous afternoon. In addition to the temporary suspension of flights, the issuance of quarantine exemption certificates by our diplomatic missions in the UK will be halted, and all arrivals from the UK will undergo an additional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test after a two-week quarantine period.
Entry quarantine will also be strengthened. Yoon said, "The fever threshold will be adjusted from 37.5 degrees Celsius to 37.3 degrees Celsius, and all flight crew members will undergo diagnostic testing." He added, "If a confirmed case from the UK is found, all will undergo PCR testing to verify whether the variant virus is present."
It is also expected that cases entering the country after visiting the UK via other countries can be controlled. Yoon explained, "Most European countries have already taken preemptive measures such as entry restrictions, so many cases will be filtered through these measures." He added, "Even if travelers pass through countries without such measures, our country will impose a basic 14-day quarantine, so we believe we can control the situation within the quarantine network."
The variant virus is known to be more transmissible than the existing COVID-19 virus. For this reason, most European countries including France, Germany, and Switzerland, as well as Canada, Hong Kong, India, Israel, Panama, and more than 50 countries worldwide have begun imposing entry restrictions.
Some concerns have been raised that the government might be standing idly by as it did in the early stages of the domestic COVID-19 outbreak. In February, the government banned entry of all foreigners who had visited Hubei Province, the origin of COVID-19, during the spread from Daegu and Gyeongbuk. However, experts had been calling for entry restrictions across all of China since the first confirmed case in Korea on January 20. At that time, Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo sparked controversy by identifying "Koreans coming from China" as the main cause of domestic spread.
Currently, there are four flights per week arriving from the UK. In the past two months, 15 arrivals from the UK have tested positive, including 11 Koreans and 4 foreigners. The variant virus has not yet been detected domestically. The quarantine authorities stated, "Among 1,600 virus gene analyses conducted, the variant virus reported in the UK has not been found."
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