SOUTH KOREA will allow fully vaccinated people to be exempted from the country's mandatory 14-day quarantine starting early next month.
Health authorities said that starting May 5, those who have been fully inoculated against Covid-19, will no longer be required to isolate themselves after coming in close contact with Covid-19 patients or entering the country from overseas if they test negative for the virus.
Current regulations require them to undergo 14 days quarantine at their residences or government-designated facilities.
According to a Yonhap news report, the new rules will be applied to those who have been fully vaccinated in South Korea, regardless of their nationality, two weeks after receiving their final shot.
However, the vaccinated people will still be monitored for 14 days and require two Covid-19 tests during the period.
South Korea currently administers vaccines from Pfizer and AstraZeneca, which require two doses.
The country's drug safety agency has approved vaccines from Johnson & Johnson, but those from Moderna and Novavax are not yet approved.
Health authorities said the exemptions also do not apply to those vaccinated overseas with shots not approved in South Korea, such as Russia's Sputnik V and China's Sinopharm vaccines.
Authorities plan to gradually expand the new rules for people who receive vaccinations overseas by making agreements with other countries.
The new exemptions, however, will not apply to arrivals from countries that have more contagious Covid-19 variants, such as South Africa and Brazil.
South Korea has so far inoculated nearly 2.6 million people, or 5 per cent of its 52 million population, with the first dose of Covid-19 vaccines since it started its vaccination campaign in late February.
The country estimates that there will be around 60,000 people who have immunity against the virus by May 5.
Meanwhile, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported South Korea's daily new virus cases fell back to below 700 on Thursday, but sporadic cluster infections and the rising number of untraceable cases still indicate a further rise in infections.
The Korea Times said KDCA reported 680 Covid-19 cases, including 650 local infections, raising the total number of cases to 121,351.
The country added four more deaths, raising the total to 1,825.
Amid growing concerns over the fourth wave of the pandemic, South Korea has designated this week as the so-called special preventive period.
Health authorities are also set to announce later this week whether they will maintain the current level of social distancing.
South Korea has been grappling with sporadic cluster infections, coupled with the rising number of cases with unknown transmission sources.
The proportion of virus cases with unknown transmission sources stood at almost 30 per cent over the past two weeks.
It's the highest since the country began compiling related data in April last year.