South Korea to lift mandatory Covid test upon arrival for China travelers

Seoul, Feb 22 (EFE).- South Korea announced Wednesday that it will lift mandatory PCR testing upon arrival for all travelers from China from Mar. 1.

However, visitors will still be required to present a negative Covid-19 test conducted prior to departure until Mar. 10, Kim Sung-ho, a senior interior ministry official, said during a Covid-19 response meeting.

“We believe that an additional easing of quarantine measures will be possible,” he added, local news agency Yonhap reported.

In December, China announced an end to the strict Covid-19 quarantines it had imposed for nearly three years, opening the door for people in the country to travel.

Following the announcement, South Korea on Dec. 30 said that it would impose restrictions on visitors from the neighboring country, given the rise in cases there and to prevent the spread of new variants.

However, the number of infections has declined in China and the rate of Covid-positive people among Chinese travelers arriving in South Korea has dropped to 0.6 percent compared to 18.4 percent in the first week of January.

This has led Seoul to begin easing restrictions in recent weeks.

On Feb. 11, South Korea once again began issuing short-term visas for Chinese citizens after halting them in January.

A few days later, Beijing, which had adopted reciprocal measures, announced that it would resume the issuing of short-term visas for South Koreans.

The South Korean government on Wednesday also approved allowing flights from China to land at airports other than that of Incheon, located west of Seoul, as established in January.

Flights between both countries will also be increased from the current 62 per week to 80 by the end of February and 100 in March. EFE

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