SEOUL (BLOOMBERG) – South Korea’s health authorities will limit the entry of foreigners from some countries where Covid-19 infections are surging through a temporary restriction on flights and visa issuances.

With the exception of important business trips or visits by government officials, Korean authorities will restrict issuance of visas “as much as possible”, and put a temporary ban on non-scheduled flights from countries where the virus is widely spreading, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said in a statement on Sunday (June 21).

The measures will “immediately take effect” for visitors from Pakistan and Bangladesh, which account for some of the recent cases in South Korea, it said.

New cases surged by 67 on Saturday in South Korea, the highest net increase since May 27, amid concern over second waves. Twenty-three out of the 67 cases were visitors from Pakistan or Bangladesh.

The nation reported 48 more cases on Sunday, bringing the total to 12,421. There were no additional deaths.

So far, 581 visitors from North and South America were confirmed to have been infected, followed by 485 from Europe and 334 from Asia excluding China.

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