South Korea: The South Korean prime minister Mr. Han Duck-soo has announced that travelers from China will be required to provide a negative PCR test within 48 hours of departure or a rapid antigen test taken within 24 hours, followed by a PCR test after arrival.
The country will restrict short-term visas for Chinese nationals, which was already done by some other countries due to surging COVID-19 infections in China.
We need to urgently prepare for any domestic ripple effects following China’s easing of quarantine rules. We will prepare to take stronger measures in case the situation gets worse, if we see a rapid increase of infections from new arrivals or appearance of new variants.
Mr. Han Duck-soo remarked.
The arrival testing and pre-departure testing will begin on January 2 and 5, respectively.
According to South Korean authorities, new restrictions became necessary after Beijing stopped publishing daily data on COVID cases, spreading concerns over the new wave of infections.
Several countries, including India, Italy, Taiwan, and the United States, introduced COVID tests for arrivals from China due to concerns over the potential emergence of new variants and the Chinese government’s lack of transparency. In addition, the Chinese government is widely criticised for downplaying the seriousness of the situation and dismantling the “zero-COVID” policy.
According to health experts, China could experience up to 2 million deaths in the coming months due to a lack of natural immunity after nearly three years of isolation and improper vaccination among the elderly.