Government Restricts Entry from Ghana and Zambia Amid Omicron Spread Concerns... Total of 11 Restricted Countries

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junyi Park] The government will ban the entry of short-term foreign visitors coming from Ghana and Zambia to Korea from the 10th to the 16th in order to minimize the domestic influx of the new COVID-19 variant, 'Omicron.'

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) announced on the 8th, after holding the 2nd Inter-Ministerial Task Force meeting on new variant response, that Ghana and Zambia have been newly designated as countries subject to entry restrictions.

The government had designated nine countries, including South Africa, Namibia, Mozambique, Lesotho, Malawi, Botswana, Eswatini, Zimbabwe, and Nigeria?countries where Omicron emerged or neighboring countries?as enhanced quarantine countries and excluded them from quarantine exemption, implementing entry restrictions. With the addition of these two new countries, the total number has increased to eleven.