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SCMP’s Asia desk

South Korean police have launched a manhunt for a Chinese traveller who escaped from a quarantine facility near the capital Seoul after testing positive for Covid-19.
The passenger, 41, tested positive for the respiratory disease upon arrival at Incheon airport, the sole gateway for flights from China.
Police said the Chinese national declined to isolate and fled from a hotel on Yeongjong Island off the west coast of Incheon on Tuesday night.
CCTV footage showed the visitor was last seen at a discount store in the island’s Jung district, the Korea JoongAng Daily reported.


The individual, who was not identified, has been placed on a wanted list, health official Kim Joo-young said. The person could be subject to up to one year in prison, or 10 million won (US$7,840) in fines, if convicted of violating the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, he said.
“And the person would be deported and banned from entering the country for a certain period of time,” Kim told a media briefing.
South Korea and several other countries, including the US and Japan, have announced restrictions on travellers from China amid fears that new variants may emerge as infections explode in the world’s second-largest economy after the government eased its strict zero-Covid policy.
Arrivals from China are required to produce a negative PCR test result within 48 hours of their departures – or results of rapid antigen tests within 24 hours – and undergo another PCR test upon arrival, South Korea announced last week.
Australia has ‘a lot of concern’ about China arrivals. Thailand, not so much?
Passengers who test positive are then required to quarantine at a government facility for seven days at their own cost.
South Korea has also restricted issuing short-term visas for Chinese nationals until the end of February and ordered a temporary halt on increasing the number of flights arriving from China.
From Saturday, travellers from Hong Kong and Macau will also be required to submit a negative result from a PCR test, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said earlier this week.
Beijing has threatened to punish nations that impose new rules on travellers from China, calling the measures “unacceptable”.
Going forward, we will dispatch more personnel including police to prevent this from recurring
Kim Joo-young, health official
A total of 2,189 people have arrived from China since January 2 and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 590 test results showed that 136 people, or 22.7 per cent of them, were infected with Covid. On Tuesday, 26 per cent of 281 people tested produced a positive result, agency data showed.
The KDCA said that China accounted for 31 per cent of imported Covid cases detected in South Korea last week.
The case of the missing Chinese national triggered questions in the media about South Korea’s system to control and manage infected inbound travellers.
Kim, the health official, expressed regret that authorities could not head off such an incident, calling it a “disgrace”.
“Going forward, we will dispatch more personnel including police to prevent this from recurring,” he said.
Can ‘economic common sense’ guide China, South Korea out of divisive doldrums?
The case also fuelled public debate on restrictions on people arriving from China.
“There needs to be more restrictions,” said Lee Jae-moon, 30, waiting for someone to arrive at Incheon airport. “Today’s incident underlines the seriousness of the situation.”
But another South Korean, Won Mi-kyong, 51, disagreed saying China was an important economic partner and South Korea should “open the door wider” to its people.
On Wednesday, South Korea logged 78,575 new Covid cases and 54 related deaths.
Additional reporting by Reuters


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South Korea

South Korea hunts Chinese Covid-positive escapee who fled quarantine hotel

Health workers direct travellers arriving from China to a Covid-19 testing centre at Incheon International Airport on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

Health workers direct travellers arriving from China to a Covid-19 testing centre at Incheon International Airport in South Korea on Tuesday. Photo: AFP

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Masked traveller walk through the international flight departure terminal entrance gate at the capital airport in Beijing. Australia has joined a raft of countries, including the US and Japan, that have implemented similar restrictions as infections soar in China after the government abruptly abandoned its stringent zero-Covid policy. Photo: AP

Shoppers wearing masks visit a popular mall following the easing of pandemic restrictions in Beijing. Photo: AP

Family members check their passports before entering an international departure gate at Beijing Capital International Airport. Photo: AP

‘No need to take risks’: Malaysians fear Covid-19 resurgence ahead of China tourists’ return

Passengers inside the Beijing Capital International Airport on Sunday. China is due to reopen its borders on January 8. Photo: EPA-EFE

An AirAsia plane flies above a village in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, on Sunday. Malaysia’s health ministry said it would test waste water from flights arriving from China and screen passengers for fever. Photo: AP

Tourists take pictures at Wat Arun Buddhist temple in Bangkok in December. Photo: AFP

Despite boom in Chinese travel demand, Asian airlines hold out on boosting flights

Travellers with their luggage at Beijing Capital International Airport. China has said it will ease tough border measures from January 8. Photo: Reuters

A traveller walks near a banner for the coronavirus testing centre at Incheon International Airport on Friday. South Korea has imposed mandatory Covid-19 tests on visitors from China. Photo: Yonhap via AP

Scoot operates weekly flights from Singapore to seven Chinese cities. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images

Passengers from Shanghai arrive at Narita airport on Friday, with a notice board (left) seen showing the Japanese government’s new restrictions requiring all air travellers from mainland China to take a Covid-19 test upon arrival. Photo: Kyodo

Testing Chinese poop not people: Malaysia spurns Covid plans of Japan, India for China’s reopening, vows to screen waste water on inbound flights

Spectators take photos of a Chinese passenger jet. Photo: AFP

Spectators take photos of a Chinese passenger jet. Malaysia has said it will test the waste water off flights from China for Covid-19, but not the passengers. Photo: AFP

A health official checks passengers for fever using a thermal scanner at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in January 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Covid restrictions on Chinese travellers ‘throwing cold water’ on South Korea’s tourism industry

Numerous countries around the world have imposed Covid restrictions on Chinese tourists. Photo: Shutterstock/File

This Week in Asia

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Asia

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Coronavirus

The 41-year-old passenger, who tested positive for Covid on arrival, fled from a quarantine hotel on Yeongjong Island off the west coast of Incheon
South Korean police said the Chinese national – last spotted at a discount store on the island – had declined to isolate


The 41-year-old passenger, who tested positive for Covid on arrival, fled from a quarantine hotel on Yeongjong Island off the west coast of Incheon, South Korean police said.


South Korea hunts Chinese Covid-positive escapee who fled quarantine hotel

The 41-year-old passenger, who tested positive for Covid on arrival, fled from a quarantine hotel on Yeongjong Island off the west coast of Incheon South Korean police said the Chinese national – last spotted at a discount store on the island – had declined to isolate

The 41-year-old passenger, who tested positive for Covid on arrival, fled from a quarantine hotel on Yeongjong Island off the west coast of Incheon

South Korean police said the Chinese national – last spotted at a discount store on the island – had declined to isolate