Omicron: South Korea reactivates quarantines for travelers after detecting the new variant of the coronavirus

South Korea announced today that it reactivates mandatory quarantines for travelers from abroad, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not, after confirming the detection of the omicron variant of coronavirus in the country, which also faces a record volume of infections.

The measure will be effective as of tomorrow, December 3, and will be active for the moment until December 16.

South Koreans and foreign residents who land will be required to quarantine for 10 days in their homes and those with short-term visas (such as those for business trips) will have to isolate themselves for 10 days in government facilities.

Travelers will have to present a negative PCR test before boarding and undergo two additional PCRs on South Korean soil that will be carried out one day after landing and on the ninth day of quarantine, reported the Korean Agency for the Control and Prevention of Infectious Diseases. (KDCA).

Only some senior executives, senior government officials and those attending funerals will be subject to exceptions.

In turn, between December 3 and 16, the quarantine exemption certificates issued by South Korea for vaccinated travelers are invalidated.

The announcement coincides with the detection of the first cases of the omicron variant in the country.

The first five confirmed infected are a couple, vaccinated with the full schedule, and two women who recently traveled to Nigeria, and a friend of the aforementioned couple who was infected by being in contact with them in South Korea.

Due to this, the Government has added Nigeria to the list of eight other African countries (South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Swaziland, Mozambique and Malawi) from which visas to enter the Asian country are restricted.

Likewise, from next December 4 until December 16, all flights on the only route that directly connects South Korea with the African continent, the one that connects the Incheon airport (west of Seoul) and the from Addis Ababa (Ethiopia).

These measures come at a time when South Korea, which has so far controlled the pandemic well (totaling only 457,000 infected and 3,700 deaths), has been with record highs of daily infections (between 3,000 and 5,000) and few serious cases of COVID for days. after relaxing some social restrictions.

This raises concerns that some of these measures, such as the mandatory closure of hotels at 10 pm or strict limits on the number of people who can meet, will soon be imposed again.