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| ▲ This file photo shows an arrivals board at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. (Yonhap) |
S Korea-British flight suspension
S. Korea extends suspension of flights from Britain till March 11
SEOUL, Feb. 24 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Wednesday extended its suspension of direct flights from Britain for two more weeks, as part of efforts to block the inflow of a more transmissible variant of the new coronavirus.
The suspension, which had been scheduled to end on Thursday, will remain in place until March 11, according to health authorities and the South Korean Embassy in Britain. Seoul first introduced the ban on flights from Britain in December.
South Korea has reported 128 cases of mutated COVID-19 strains, including 109 from Britain, 13 from South Africa, and six from Brazil, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The authorities have been beefing up efforts to stop the inflow of COVID-19 variants from overseas, as they are thought to be more transmissible and could complicate efforts to curb the winter wave of the virus.
The country's daily new coronavirus cases came to 440 on Wednesday, raising the total caseload to 88,120, the KDCA said.
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