Chinese Tourist Missing After Tested Positive Upon Landing And Refused To Quarantine

According to foreign media reports on January 4, a Chinese tourist had been included in the wanted list by the South Korean Police. After arriving Incheon International Airport near Seoul on the evening of the 3rd, he was tested positive for the CCP virus and escaped after being transported to an isolation facility on Yeongjong Island near the airport with other patients, and his current whereabouts unknown.

If found guilty of violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, this person could be sentenced to up to a year in prison or a 10 million won fine, and would be deported and banned from entering the country, South Korean health official Kim Joo-young told in a media briefing. He further stated that the authorities will deploy more forces, including the police, to prevent this from happening again.

According to South Korea’s latest regulations on entry and epidemic prevention, starting from January 2, travelers from China will be subject to mandatory testing for the CCP virus, and they will wait in designated places until the test results are released. Positive patients need to be quarantined for 7 days. From January 5, international travelers visiting South Korea must submit a negative result of a PCR test taken no more than 48 hours before departure, or a negative result of a rapid antigen test taken no more than 24 hours before departure.

In addition, the South Korean government requires that from January 7th, people from Hong Kong and Macau must also provide a negative test result for the CCP virus. Briefing data from the Disease Control and Prevention Agency shows that a total of 2,189 travelers from China have arrived in Korea since Jan. 2. Of the 590 test results, 136 were tested positive, accounting for 22.7 percent. 73 of the 281 travelers from China were tested positive on Jan. 2, a positive rate of 26 percent, and 76 percent of the confirmed cases among travelers entering Korea on Jan. 3 were from China.