Starting Saturday, travelers from Hong Kong and Macau will have to present a negative COVID-19 test result before embarking for South Korea. This expands a list that already includes mainland China.

According to health authorities, visitors from Hong Kong and Macau arriving by plane or ship will be required to present a negative result of a PCR test taken within 48 hours of departure, or 24 hours for a rapid antigen test conducted by a medical personnel. 

Travelers from the two territories must also register their health and travel information including contact number and residence in Korea into the Q-CODE system before arrival, but they are not required to take a post-arrival PCR test, unlike those arriving from China.

Health officials noted that more travelers arrived in Korea from Hong Kong than from China last month, with the monthly tally reaching some 45-thousand and 37-thousand, respectively. Other countries, including the U.S. and Canada have already beefed up restriction on these administrative regions of China.

Following a spike in infections in China, South Korea has tightened quarantine measures on arrivals from the country and imposed restrictions on short-term visa issuance and flight operations.