Infected Patients Keep Arriving from Overseas

A sailor who arrived in Incheon port aboard a Russian cargo ship has tested positive for coronavirus, health officials said Wednesday. In Busan port, meanwhile, 12 more COVID-19 infections were detected aboard the Russian vessel Petr1, which was put under quarantine after 32 out of 94 crew tested positive.

With the surge, 34 out of 48 new cases of coronavirus in Korea on Tuesday were foreigners.

Some 37,821 ships are expected to dock in Korean ports in the second half of this year, and 1,581 are fishing vessels or reefer cargo ships that will require Korean port workers to offload cargo and come into contact with foreign crew.

Through direct and indirect contact with Russian crew on Petr1, 12 Koreans have already tested positive including repair workers and their family members.

Prime Minister Chung Se-kyun said in a meeting with the government taskforce on Wednesday that more than 50,000 foreign students are expected in Korea ahead of the opening of universities for the second semester. He told officials to secure ample locations for quarantine centers.

According to the Education Ministry, 37,375 foreign students arrived in Korea during the first semester on special entry procedures for overseas visitors since February, and 23 of them tested positive for coronavirus.

The procedures require all arrivals from abroad to fill in health statement forms and have a residency here. They also have to install a tracking app on their phones.

Meanwhile, three Vietnamese visitors who eloped from a quarantine facility in Gimpo near Seoul on Monday were caught by police on Wednesday. They had traveled around Incheon and surrounding Gyeonggi Province.

As of Wednesday morning, the number of confirmed cases increased 18 from the previous day to 14,269, while deaths remain at 300.