PREVENTING THE SPREAD OF VIRUS VARIANT

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We reported yesterday that South Korea has confirmed the first cases of a new variant of COVID-19 from a family of 3 who flew in from Britain last week. To prevent the new strain from spreading, the government has taken fresh new measures including extending a ban on flights coming from the United Kingdom and mandating the submission of negative PCR test results from all arrivals, including transfers, from the UK and South Africa.

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South Korea has extended its ban on flights coming in from the United Kingdom by one more week to January 7. The ban could be further extended depending on the situation next month. Screening will be stepped up on all incoming travelers as well, including Korean nationals. Currently, all travelers must get tested for COVID-19 within 3 days of arrival during their mandatory 2-week quarantine. Now under tighter measures, they need to get tested one more time at the end of the quarantine period. Only people testing negative for this second test will be allowed to end their quarantine.

[Soundbite] PAIK SOON-YOUNG(COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, CATHOLIC UNIV. OF KOREA) : "The virus is coming in from overseas so the best prevention on our part is detecting imported infections and analyzing gene sequencing."

All arrivals from the UK and South Africa including those that have layovers or stopovers within these two countries must submit negative results of a PCR test. New visa issuance will also be suspended excluding only a few exceptions. Japan, where the new virus strain has also been detected, has completely blocked all new foreign arrivals. Regarding criticism that South Korea also needs to take stronger measures, authorities argue that imported infections are under adequate oversight.

[Soundbite] JUNG EUN-KYEONG(KDCA DIRECTOR) : "Basic measures are in place to block the infiltration of all incoming travelers into local communities."

However the new variant could have already entered the country from previous arrivals who until now did not mandatorily undergo testing at the end of quarantine, that is if they did not show symptoms then.

[Soundbite] CHOI WON-SUK(KOREA UNIVERSITY ANSAN HOSPITAL) : "Previous arrivals with mild or no symptoms may not have been detected at the end of self-quarantine."

Health authorities have also decided to conduct gene analysis on all COVID-positive travelers arriving from countries where the new variants have been reported.