CHANGED GUIDELINES IN COVID-19 MEASURES

[Anchor Lead]

Korean businessmen who travel to China, Vietnam, and Cambodia on business for two weeks or less will be exempted from the two-week self-isolation rule when they return to Korea. Also, foreign workers who cannot leave Korea even after their periods of stay have expired may be able to work temporarily.

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​Forty-eight new COVID-19 cases have been confirmed in just one day. Imported cases went up. 34, mainly from a Russian ship anchored at Busan Port. At 14, locally transmitted cases declined. Yesterday, the police managed to find all three Vietnamese nationals who disappeared during self-isolation. They claimed to have escaped after feeling frustrated at the confinement and wanted to make money by working odd jobs at construction sites. This incident prompted the Korean government to strengthen police patrol of the isolation facilities for foreigners and increase CCTV installations to prevent quarantine escapes. There are also plans to deal with unauthorized escapees with zero tolerance. Meanwhile, Korean businessmen who travel to China, Vietnam, or Cambodia for two weeks or less will be exempted from the self-quarantine rule when they return to Korea. Given the current economic condition, the government has taken this special measure for countries with low infection risks. As there are migrant workers with expired periods of stay who cannot leave Korea due to limited available flights, the government will review ways to allow them to work seasonal jobs on a temporary basis. The plan allows them to work by changing their status of temporary stay for three months.

[Soundbite] CHUNG SYE-KYUN(PRIME MINISTER) : "If foreign workers with extended periods of stay get seasonal jobs, they can help ease labor shortage in rural communities."

Some 70 additional Korean workers will return home from Iraq tomorrow. Twenty-nine Seoul municipal sports facilities, which had been closed since May, will reopen in phases, provided that disease control regulations are strictly observed.