Government to Resume Issuance of Short-Term Visas for Arrivals from China Starting Tomorrow

Jungdaebon "Recent Positive Rate of Entrants from China Drops to 1%"

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The government will lift the restriction on issuing short-term visas to arrivals from China starting tomorrow.

Kim Seong-ho, Director of the Disaster and Safety Management Headquarters at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety (2nd Chief Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters), stated at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on the 10th, "The positive rate among arrivals from China has recently decreased to the 1% range, and no variants of concern have been detected among confirmed cases from China."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, from the 19th of last month to the 4th of this month, the positive rate among 9,492 arrivals from China was 1.1% (103 cases). The government plans to consider a phased relaxation of other quarantine measures for arrivals based on a comprehensive review of future circumstances.

The government had restricted the issuance of short-term visas to arrivals from China starting from the 2nd of last month. Although the restriction was initially set to last until the end of last month, it was extended until the end of this month.

Meanwhile, the government announced that the decline in the epidemic has continued since the adjustment of mask mandates on the 30th of last month. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the daily number of confirmed cases on that day was about 13,000, marking the lowest Friday count in 32 weeks. The number of critically ill patients in medical facilities was 289 on the 6th, 293 on the 7th, 283 on the 8th, 293 on the 9th, and 287 on the 10th, remaining in the 200s for five consecutive days, with 17 deaths reported.

Director Kim explained, "The proportion of presumed reinfection cases has increased for 13 consecutive weeks since the 4th week of October," adding, "This is believed to be due to waning immunity among those who were vaccinated or infected after last year's Omicron surge."

However, he urged, "Since even those who have already been confirmed infected face an increased risk of reinfection, high-risk groups such as those aged 60 and above, who are at higher risk of severe illness, should complete their winter vaccinations as soon as possible."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.