South Korea wary of importing Delta variant, tells Vietnamese students to delay travel

By Hoang Phong July 31, 2021 | 12:00 am PT

People walk through the Myeongdong shopping district of South Korean capital Seoul in May, 2021. Photo by Reuters.

The South Korean government has advised students from 26 countries, including Vietnam, to postpone travel to that country until the end of September amid rising Covid-19 fears.

They should only come to South Korea after 70 percent of its population receives the first dose of vaccination by the end of September, Korea Herald quoted it as saying.

If students from these 26 countries, which face a big threat from the Delta variant of Covid, arrive in South Korea now, they need to quarantine for 14 days.

They must also furnish a negative PCR test result from their home country, and self-test will not be accepted.

Some 35.8 percent of the population has received the first jab.

The Vietnamese Ministry of Foreign Affairs said around 200,000 Vietnamese study and work in South Korea.

The highly transmissible Delta variant has become the most prevalent in many countries, including Vietnam, where most new cases are linked to it.

Three months into its fourth wave, it has had 137,266 cases, prompting the government to accelerate its vaccination campaign.