my timesThe Korea Times
South KoreaHealth

Health

Korea Times
About Us
Introduction
History
Contact Us
Products & Services
Subscribe
E-paper
RSS Service
Content Sales
Site Map
Policy
Code of Ethics
Ombudsman
Privacy Policy
Youth Protection Policy
Terms of Service
Copyright Policy
Family Site
Hankookilbo
Dongwha Group
FacebookXYoutubeInstagram
CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

New virus cases at 6-day high ahead of Lunar New Year holiday

A medical worker wearing protective gear gestures at a coronavirus testing site in Seoul, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. APSouth Korea reported a spike in daily coronavirus cases Wednesday as clusters of infections continued to emerge, with health authorities urging people to avoid family gatherings during the Lunar New Year holiday. The country added 444 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 414 local infections, raising the total caseload to 81,930, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.The figure was the highest since Feb. 4, when the nation recorded 451 new cases. It also marked a jump from Tuesday's 371 new cases and Monday's 289 new cases, which were the lowest daily infections since Nov. 23 last year. South Korea added four more deaths, raising the total to 1,486.Since late last month, the daily caseload has been moving in the 300-400 range due to cluster infections from unauthorized education facilities run by a Christian missionary group in the central and southwestern regions.New virus infections have been slowing down since the third wave of the

Feb 10, 2021
New virus cases at 6-day high ahead of Lunar New Year holiday
  • Lunar New Year to be critical juncture for pandemic battle: PM
  • PHOTOS On way to grandmother for Lunar New Year holiday

Gov't prepares to prevent wildlife-borne diseases ahead of Lunar New Year holiday

Health workers pour calcium oxide over a dead wild boar infected with African Swine Fever in this April 2020 photo. Korea Times fileBy Ko Dong-hwanThe authorities are rushing to prevent the spread of animal-borne diseases ahead of the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, with workers carrying out fumigation and repairs around pig and poultry farms in preparation for the increased movement of people visiting their families in different parts of the country.Animal-to-animal diseases spread by highly contagious pathogens, such as avian influenza from migratory birds and African Swine Fever (ASF) among wild boars, have been threatening domestic farms ― with ASF concentrated within the inter-Korean border regions. Reports of bird flu nationwide reached 163 from 2020 to 2021, and there have been 103 this year alone. The two-year figure is also a 191 percent jump from 2017. Reports of ASF have also increased each month since October last year, from 22 to 56 in November, 79 in December and 96 in January. This month has already seen 31 cases as of Feb. 9, bringing the total since the first case w

Feb 9, 2021By Ko Dong-hwan
Gov't prepares to prevent wildlife-borne diseases ahead of Lunar New Year holiday

65% of transgender people experience discrimination

gettyimagesbankBy Jun Ji-hyeSixty-five percent of transgender people in Korea have experienced discrimination and harassment over the past year, according to a survey released by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK), Tuesday. The state-run human rights watchdog said 591 transgender individuals aged 19 and older participated in the online survey.The NHRCK carried out the survey, in cooperation with Sookmyung Women's University Research and Business Development Foundation, for the first time among government institutions to determine discrimination and hatred against transgender people here. The survey showed that transgender individuals have faced discrimination and harassment almost everywhere ― within their own families, schools and workplaces. Harassment has occurred especially frequently at home ― 44 percent said their family members suppressed their expressions of gender identity, while 39.4 percent experienced verbal violence. Thirteen percent suffered the suspension of economic support from their parents just because they were transgender, while 9.9 percent exp

Feb 9, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
65% of transgender people experience discrimination

Jeju raises alarm over 'excessive' tourists during holiday

Tourists walk along an olle trail on Jeju Island in this undated file photo. / Courtesy of Jeju Olle FoundationBy Jun Ji-hyeMore than 100,000 people are expected to travel to the southern resort of Jeju Island during the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, angering many who followed the advice of the health authorities and refrained from visiting their families and relatives amid the COVID-19 pandemic. This is raising concern among officials and residents of Jeju as the visitors may bring the coronavirus to the island.This year's Lunar New Year holiday, or Seollal in Korean, is one of the country's key traditional holidays, running from Thursday through Sunday. The Jeju Tourism Association (JTA) expects 143,000 people to visit the island during the holiday, despite government pleas to refrain from unnecessary travel to stem the spread of the contagious disease. The number is down by about 30 percent from a year earlier, but JTA officials deem it still to be too many amid the prolonged public health crisis. “I decided not to visit my parents living in Busan to comply with the gover

Feb 9, 2021By Jun Ji-hye
Jeju raises alarm over 'excessive' tourists during holiday

New virus cases above 300 again ahead of Lunar New Year holiday

A medical worker takes a nasal sample from a boy during COVID-19 testing at a coronavirus testing site in Seoul, Friday, Feb. 5, 2021. APSouth Korea reported a slight rise in daily coronavirus cases on Tuesday as new clusters of infection continued to emerge, with health authorities being on high alert ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.The country added 303 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 273 local infections, raising the total caseload to 81,487, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.It marked an uptick from Monday's 289 new cases, which were the lowest daily infections since Nov. 23 last year.South Korea added eight more deaths, raising the total to 1,482.Since late last month, the local daily caseload has been moving in the 300-400 range due to cluster infections from unauthorized education facilities run by a Christian missionary group in the central and southwestern regions.New virus infections have been slowing down since the third wave of the pandemic peaked at a record high of 1,241 daily cases on Dec. 25.With small business owners

Feb 9, 2021
New virus cases above 300 again ahead of Lunar New Year holiday

GC Pharma set to produce Sputnik V vaccine

A medical worker shows a vial of Sputnik V vaccine during COVID-19 vaccinations at a clinic near Moscow in this December 2020 file photo. / Reuters-YonhapGovernment considers introducing Sputnik V to KoreaBy Park Jae-hyukGC Pharma is emerging as a potential contract manufacturing organization (CMO) of Russia's COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V, according to media reports and industry officials, Monday.Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong also said that day that the government is considering introducing the Russian vaccine to cope with uncertainties over mutations and supply issues.The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), the country's sovereign wealth fund that invested in the Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology for the development of the vaccine, chose Hankook Korus Pharm, a subsidiary of biotech company GL Rapha, as a Korean manufacturing partner last November.The small pharmaceutical firm has produced Sputnik V at its factory in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, to export the entire output to the Middle East. Its ann

Feb 9, 2021By Park Jae-hyuk
GC Pharma set to produce Sputnik V vaccine

New virus cases at over 2-month low on fewer tests, infection slowdown

A health worker is vaccinated with the AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine on Feb. 7 at the Mignot Hospital in Le Chesnay near Paris. AFP-YonhapSouth Korea's daily coronavirus cases fell below 300 on Monday, marking the lowest number since last November, when a third wave of outbreaks began, as the nation started an eased social distancing scheme outside the greater Seoul area.The country added 289 more COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, including 264 local infections, raising the total caseload to 81,185, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.It marked the lowest daily infections since Nov. 23 last year, when the nation began grappling with a resurgence in COVID-19 cases. South Korea added three more deaths, raising the total to 1,474.As of 6 p.m., the country had added 202 more cases, down 48 from the same time Sunday, according to health authorities and local governments. New cases are counted until midnight each day and announced the next morning.Since late last month, the local daily caseload has been moving in the 300-400 range due to cluster infections from

Feb 8, 2021
New virus cases at over 2-month low on fewer tests, infection slowdown

China seeks to send self-developed COVID-19 vaccines to Chinese residents in Korea

A health worker prepares a dose of Chinese-made Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine in Belgrade Fair, Serbia, Feb. 4. AFP-YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jin The Chinese Embassy in Korea said its government is seeking to provide its own developed coronavirus vaccines for Chinese nationals here. In a recent interview with The Korea Times, Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Xing Haiming stated, “We are consulting with the South Korean government over whether to provide vaccines developed in China for the 1 million Chinese citizens living here.”But the ambassador did not specify which firm's vaccines the country is planning to administer and how the distribution process would take place. The two frontrunner COVID-19 vaccines developed in China are CoronaVac developed by Sinovac Biotech, and Sinopharm created by the state-run China National Pharmaceutical Group. Both shots are two-dose inactivated vaccines.The Chinese health authorities gave approval for the general use of CoronaVac, Feb. 6, expanding its use to the public as it had been approved in July only for emergency use to high-risk groups such as m

Feb 8, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
China seeks to send self-developed COVID-19 vaccines to Chinese residents in Korea
  • INTERVIEW Chinese envoy says 'anti-China' grouping will cause confrontation

Seoul city gov't to test pet cats, dogs for COVID-19

GettyimagesbankThe Seoul metropolitan government will test pet cats and dogs for COVID-19 if they show symptoms, an official said Monday.The new program will start the same day, several weeks after the country reported its first COVID-19 case involving a pet in a kitten in the southeastern city of Jinju.Park Yoo-mi, a disease control official at the city government, said during a virtual press briefing that the tests will be conducted near the animal's home by a team of health workers, including a veterinarian.Only cats and dogs exhibiting symptoms, such as fever, coughing, breathing difficulties and increased secretion from the eyes or nose, will be subject to the test, she said, adding that most pets have not shown symptoms.If the pet tests positive, it will be required to quarantine at home for 14 days without being sent to an isolation facility because there is no evidence COVID-19 can be transmitted to humans from a pet, Park said.If the pet's owners are unable to take care of it because they are hospitalized with COVID-19, have an underlying disease or at an advanced age, the a

Feb 8, 2021
Seoul city gov't to test pet cats, dogs for COVID-19
  • New virus cases at over 2-month low on fewer tests, infection slowdown

Animal rights activists calling for halt of bird flu poultry culling

Animal rights activists stage a protest at Gwanghwamun, Seoul, in this Jan. 25 photo, calling for a halt to the culling of poultry as a method to prevent the spread of avian influenza, saying there are other options. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiWhile the government has been bolstering measures to prevent the spread of avian influenza, animal welfare organizations and veterinarians are criticizing the measures ― culling poultry regardless of whether or not they have been infected.They say culling is nothing more than animal slaughter, and vaccines for the highly pathogenic H5N8 avian flu should be introduced as a preventive measure. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the number of chickens and ducks culled here, since last Nov. 26 when the first H5N8 case broke out, topped 25.3 million as of Feb. 3. There were 75 cases of infections nationwide.In Gyeonggi Province alone, more than 6.8 million chicken and ducks in 83 poultry and egg farms were culled during the same period. Of these, 4.24 million at 65 farms, or 61 percent, were culled as a preventive measure alt

Feb 8, 2021By Bahk Eun-ji
Animal rights activists calling for halt of bird flu poultry culling
previous page
258259260261262
next page

Most Read in South Korea