South Korea is restricting new visas for travelers from the United Kingdom and South Africa after recording three cases of the new UK Covid-19 variant Monday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
The KDCA announced Monday that it had detected the new Covid-19 variant -- first identified in England and which appears to transmit more easily -- in three visitors traveling from London who arrived in South Korea on December 22.
Some 17 close contacts who took the same plane as the confirmed cases have all tested negative and are being monitored while in quarantine, KDCA official Kwon Joon-wook said in a briefing Tuesday.
Kwon added the country will stop issuing new visas for people coming from the UK and South Africa unless they are for diplomatic, governmental or humanitarian purposes.
South Korea on Monday extended a ban on flights from the UK until January 7.