[Asia Economy Reporter Byeon Seon-jin] The COVID-19 positivity rate among arrivals who departed from China the previous day and were immediately tested at the airport was found to be 0.3%.
According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 7th, out of 335 short-term foreign visitors who arrived at Incheon International Airport from China on the 6th and underwent polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, one person tested positive. The positivity rate was 0.3%, down 0.7 percentage points from the previous day (1.0%).
To minimize the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak and variants in China on the domestic situation, the government has mandated COVID-19 PCR testing for arrivals from China from the 2nd of last month until the end of this month. Regardless of nationality, short-term visitors from China are tested at airport testing centers, while long-term residents and nationals are tested at local public health centers. The health authorities consider the recent airport test positivity rate, which remains between 0% and 1%, as an indication that the COVID-19 situation in China has stabilized.
Since the mandatory COVID-19 testing for arrivals from China was implemented on the 2nd of last month, a total of 54,111 people have entered the country through airports via China. The cumulative positivity rate for short-term visitors tested at the airport reached 7.7% (777 confirmed cases out of 10,119 tests). The cumulative positivity rate for short-term visitors, which had been in the 20% range, has been steadily decreasing since the introduction of mandatory pre-arrival testing on the 5th of last month. The health authorities plan to maintain COVID-19 testing before and after arrival for travelers from China until the scheduled end of this month but are considering an early lifting of measures such as restrictions on short-term visa issuance.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
