Omicron Confirmed Cases Isolation Period Shortened to 7 Days from the 26th... Close Contacts Under Passive Monitoring (Comprehensive)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] Starting from the 26th, the isolation period for confirmed cases of the Omicron variant will be shortened from the existing 10 days to 7 days.

At the regular briefing on the 24th, the Central Disease Control Headquarters announced, "Reflecting the characteristics of the Omicron variant, the isolation period for confirmed cases and contacts will be changed considering vaccination status and presence of symptoms, and will be applied nationwide from the 26th."

The isolation period for confirmed cases is 7 days for those who have completed vaccination, and 10 days for unvaccinated individuals and others.

For close contacts, those who have completed vaccination will switch from isolation to passive monitoring, while unvaccinated individuals will self-isolate for 7 days, with all undergoing polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing on days 6 to 7.

For overseas arrivals, the 10-day isolation period will be maintained until February 3rd, and further measures will be announced later.

Jung Eun-kyung, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, stated, "Since the positive rate among overseas arrivals exceeds 5%, enhanced measures for overseas arrivals will be implemented until February 3rd, and exemptions from isolation and shortening of isolation periods for overseas arrivals will be adjusted in early February, with changes expected to align with domestic standards."

The health authorities are considering excluding close contacts from isolation if they wore masks properly and did not have conversations lasting 15 minutes or more, taking into account the characteristics of the Omicron variant.

Park Young-jun, head of the epidemiological investigation team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters, explained, "Close contacts are defined and managed as those who have had contact involving conversations within 2 meters for 15 minutes or longer. However, even if the contact meets the close contact criteria, if the vaccination status meets the completion standard, the individual will not be subject to isolation but will be exempted from isolation and switched to passive monitoring, and we plan to present related criteria accordingly."