S. Korea to set up 'walking through' virus testing facilities at airport

SEOUL - South Korea said on Monday that it will set up the so-called "walking through" virus testing facilities at the country's main gateway Incheon International Airport, west the capital Seoul, to help prevent the COVID-19 cases from being imported from abroad.

Yoon Tae-ho, an overall officer of disinfection at the Central Disaster Management headquarters, told a press briefing that about 40 "walking through" testing booths are scheduled to be installed at the Incheon airport from Wednesday.

The "walking through" testing station is a public phone booth-like virus testing facility, into which testees walk and have their sample taken by the medical staff who stand outside the booth.

It can minimize direct contact between potential infectees and the medical staff, and also shorten the time of testing.

It takes about six minutes to test for the virus at the booth, far shorter than some 30 minutes required for conventional testing stations.

While a booth is being disinfected and ventilated, the medical staff can take samples in another booth next to it.

In the latest tally, South Korea reported 64 more cases of the COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, lifting the total number to 8,961.

The newly confirmed cases fell below 100 for the second straight day, but worry emerged over the imported cases.

Of the 64 new cases, 14 were imported from overseas, according to the health authorities.