Korea mulls ending COVID-19 isolation mandate

The second vice minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, Park Min-soo, speaks during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters at the Government Complex-Seoul, Wednesday. (Yonhap)

South Korean government is contemplating lifting the isolation mandate for COVID-19 patients as soon as this month, as part of efforts to transition to pre-pandemic normalcy.

The decision will be announced as early as this week, officials said.

The mandatory isolation rule was introduced as one of the first preventative measures in January 2020.

The move is being considered as the isolation requirement has been lifted in a number of countries. Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain, Thailand, France, Singapore, the US, the UK, Australia and Germany are among those with no isolation mandate. But isolation is still required in Italy, Israel, Ireland, Japan and New Zealand.

The government is also considering lowering the COVID-19 crisis status from "serious," the highest level.

If the level is lowered, measures such as recommending travelers to take PCR tests within three days of arrival here from abroad will be lifted.

The decision is being made after a change in World Health Organization's stance that COVID-19 no longer poses emergent threats to global health.

"By taking the WHO's decision into account as well as considering the trend of the virus' spread at home and abroad, medical response capabilities, policies of major countries, and others, we will swiftly confirm the plan (of further easing countermeasures) for COVID-19," Jee Young-mee, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner, said on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the country's new daily COVID-19 cases bounced back to 21,681 cases on Tuesday on eased virus restrictions. It was the highest tally since the end of January.

By Lee Jaeeun(jenn@heraldcorp.com)