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Health authorities at crossroads over social distancing measures for Chuseok

Medical workers guide a person at a temporary COVID-19 testing center in front of Seoul Station, Wednesday. Yonhap1.5 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines to come from Romania By Jun Ji-hyeHealth authorities are agonizing over whether to ease restrictions on private gatherings, aimed at curbing COVID-19 infections, for the upcoming Chuseok holiday, to allow people to hold family gatherings during one of the nation's largest and most widely celebrated holidays. But concerns are also rising that eased rules may thwart the authorities' ongoing efforts to curb the fourth wave of the pandemic.Millions of people usually travel across the nation to meet families and relatives during Chuseok, which runs from Sept. 18 through 22 this year.The authorities are currently consulting with experts about ways to allow more people to gather during the holiday, considering the public sentiment that puts importance on family gatherings and ancestral rites during the holiday, as well as expectations that the rate of people who have received the first dose of a vaccine could reach about 70 percent around t

Sep 1, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Health authorities at crossroads over social distancing measures for Chuseok

Checking place of origin

Officials from the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service check places of origin of various meat products at a traditional market in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, Wednesday, ahead of the Chuseok long weekend which runs from Sept. 18 to 22 this year. As people seek high-quality and expensive agricultural and meat products produced in Korea for holiday gifts, there have been cases of merchants mislabeling foreign products to pass them off as domestic. Yonhap

Sep 1, 2021
Checking place of origin

Korea alert against lambda variant, toughens measures against Peru, Chile arrivals

A man wearing a face mask reads a newspaper next to chairs and tables taped for social distancing and a precaution against the coronavirus at a shopping street in Seoul, Aug. 27. AP-YonhapSouth Korea has adopted tougher measures to block the inflow of the lambda variant of the novel coronavirus as the country is struggling to contain the spread of variant cases amid the fourth wave of the pandemic, according to health authorities.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced Tuesday that arrivals from Peru and Chile will go through a mandatory seven-day quarantine at designated facilities starting Sept. 10.The arrivals from the two countries will receive the first round of PCR testing on the first day of arrival, the second one on the sixth day, and the last one before leaving quarantine facilities.The lambda strain was first discovered in Peru in August 2020, accounting for the majority of infections in Peru and about a third of new cases in Chile before the emergence of the delta variant.The World Health Organization has classified lambda as a "variant of interes

Sep 1, 2021
Korea alert against lambda variant, toughens measures against Peru, Chile arrivals

New infections spike to over 2,000; delta cases rising at alarming pace

People wearing face masks to help curb the spread of the coronavirus use the escalators near the subway station in Seoul, Aug. 31. AP-YonhapSouth Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to over 2,000 on Wednesday, with the more transmissible delta strain rising sharply ahead of a major holiday this month.The country added 2,025 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,992 local infections, raising the total caseload to 253,445, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).The tally marked a sharp rise from 1,487 on Monday and 1,372 on Tuesday. Daily cases have stayed above 1,000 for 57 consecutive days.The number of patients normally falls over the weekend and rises later in the week as more people get tested, often breaching the 2,000 mark.The country added seven more deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 2,292, the KDCA said. The number of patients with serious symptoms across the country reached 399, down 10 from the previous day. Critical patients have more than tripled from some 120 in early July, when the fourth wave began.Health authorities sa

Sep 1, 2021
New infections spike to over 2,000; delta cases rising at alarming pace

Reports on vaccine side effects increase as inoculation program expands

People are observed for possible side effects after receiving coronavirus vaccines at a vaccination center in Seodaemun District, Seoul, Tuesday. Yonhap By Lee Hyo-jin Recent reports on side effects to coronavirus vaccines are prompting concerns over vaccine hesitancy, as inoculations have been largely expanded to the younger population.Dozens of public petitions have been posted on the Cheong Wa Dae website by internet users claiming to be family members of people suffering from vaccine side effects calling on the government to launch thorough investigations and provide suitable compensation. On Aug. 27, an internet user wrote that her fiance, a man in his 30s living in Daegu, has been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia about a month after receiving his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine. “He was a healthy person with no underlying health conditions. He didn't drink or smoke,” read the petition. According to another petition posted the same day, a man in his 30s w

Sep 1, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Reports on vaccine side effects increase as inoculation program expands

Nat'l Assembly endorses bill requiring surveillance cameras inside hospital operating rooms

A sign that reads closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras are recording inside an operating room at Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center's Suwon Hospital / YonhapThe National Assembly on Tuesday approved a contentious bill requiring surveillance cameras in hospital operating rooms in a bid to step up protection for patients against medical negligence or malpractice. The bill was passed about six years after related parliamentary discussions on its necessity first emerged, in the face of stiff objection from doctors' groups.The revision to the Medical Service Act mandates installing closed-circuit TV cameras in hospital operation rooms and recording medical procedures in video images when requested by a patient.The video images should be kept for at least 30 days for future reference in the event of legal disputes. The bill, however, exceptionally gives doctors a right to evade the mandate if they have "valid reasons," such as having to conduct an emergency operation. It also gives a two-year grace period before officially going into force after its promulgation. Proposed by a group of

Aug 31, 2021
Nat'l Assembly endorses bill requiring surveillance cameras inside hospital operating rooms

Gov't plan for booster shots raises eyebrows

An individual receives a coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in Seodaemun District of Seoul, Tuesday. YonhapBreakthrough cases top 3,000By Lee Hyo-jin While the government is seeking to begin providing booster shots in the fourth quarter, amid rising cases of breakthrough COVID-19 infections here, some medical experts have questioned the feasibility of the plan, citing the ongoing instability in the vaccine supply.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced Monday that it plans to start administering booster shots in October to fully vaccinated individuals whose immunity has weakened over time.A booster shot is an extra dose of a vaccine, given at a predetermined time after the initial injection(s) in order to raise or maintain an individual's immunity against the target virus.The KDCA noted that an expert panel on COVID-19 vaccines has advised people to receive the extra shot six months after their last dose, while vulnerable groups such as the elderly population may receive the booster shot earlier.The decision on booster shots came as the country is se

Aug 31, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Gov't plan for booster shots raises eyebrows

Breakthrough cases top 3,000; people in 30s most vulnerable

People receive COVID-19 shots at a vaccination center in Seodaemun District, Seoul, Aug. 31. YonhapSouth Korea has reported more than 3,000 cases of COVID-19 among those who have been fully vaccinated, data showed Tuesday, with people in their 30s being the most vulnerable age group for reinfection, even after vaccination.The country reported 3,128 cases of such infections as of Monday last week, accounting for 0.04 percent of the 7.7 million people who have received the full-dose vaccine regimen, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).The rate of breakthrough cases occurring in people in their 30s was the highest at 0.085 percent, with the rate gradually decreasing among older groups, the agency said. The rate of breakthrough cases among those who have received jabs supplied by U.S. pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson came to 0.113 percent, trailed by AstraZeneca with 0.068 percent and Pfizer with 0.021 percent.As of Tuesday, around 29 million people, or 56.5 percent of the total population, have received at least one shot of a COVID-19 vaccine. S

Aug 31, 2021
Breakthrough cases top 3,000; people in 30s most vulnerable

Migrant human rights groups call for non-discriminatory COVID-19 relief aid

In this July 6 file photo, a coalition of around 100 migrant human rights groups calls upon the South Korean government to provide COVID-19 relief fund to residents of foreign nationality during a news conference held in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul. YonhapLocal migrant human rights groups on Tuesday called upon the government to come up with a non-discriminatory COVID-19 relief aid program, ahead of the envisioned mass rollout of cash handouts next month.Around 100 groups for the human rights of migrants and foreign national residents, including Solidarity for Migrant Human Rights, issued a joint statement demanding the government to cover the migrant and foreign national resident population in its plan to start distributing stimulus checks of 250,000 won ($215) per person to the bottom 88 percent of South Koreans in terms of income bracket on Sept. 6."Many of the foreign nationals who live, work and may taxes here have again been excluded from the list of people eligible for claiming the state-funded pandemic relief checks," they said, asking the government to add the population

Aug 31, 2021
Migrant human rights groups call for non-discriminatory COVID-19 relief aid

New cases under 1,400 on fewer tests; toughened curbs eyed ahead of Chuseok holiday

A kid refuses to get tested for COVID-19 at a testing center in Seoul Station, Aug. 31. YonhapSouth Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,400 on Tuesday due to fewer tests over the weekend, but health authorities are facing hurdles in flattening the curve ahead of the Chuseok holiday.The country added 1,372 more COVID-19 cases, including 1,333 local infections, raising the total caseload to 251,421, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).The figure fell below 1,400 for the first time in two weeks. Daily cases have stayed above 1,000 for 56 consecutive days.Tuesday's tally marked a drop from 1,619 on Sunday and 1,487 on Monday. The number of patients normally falls over the weekend and rises later in the week as more people get tested, often breaching the 2,000 mark.The country added one more deaths from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 2,285, the KDCA said. The fatality rate came to 0.91 percent.The number of patients with serious symptoms across the country reached 409, up 13 from the previous day. Critical patients have more than tripled f

Aug 31, 2021
New cases under 1,400 on fewer tests; toughened curbs eyed ahead of Chuseok holiday
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