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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 under 400 again

A man wearing protective suits sprays disinfectant as a precaution against the coronavirus during lunch time at a makeshift clinic in Seoul, Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. APSouth Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 400 on Sunday, following a brief rise a day earlier, but health authorities remain vigilant against possible upticks amid an apparent slowdown.The country added 392 more COVID-19 cases, including 369 locally transmitted infections, raising the total caseload to 75,084, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).Sunday's daily caseload was down from 431 cases reported the previous day. The third wave of COVID-19 infections here reached its peak on Dec. 25, with the daily tally reaching a record high 1,240 but has been showing signs of a slowdown since then.The daily figure stayed mostly in the 500s the week before it dropped to 389 on Monday and 386 on Tuesday. It slightly exceeded 400 on Wednesday and Thursday.Although new infections appear to be slowing down, health authorities have been urging people not to let their guard down agains

Jan 24, 2021
New virus cases under 400 again
  • First case of pet cat with COVID-19 confirmed in Korea: PM

Korea reports 431 more cases of new coronavirus

A woman wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus takes an escalator down in Seoul, Jan. 21. APThe health authorities said Saturday that the number of daily new COVID-19 cases here rose back to above 400 for Friday. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 431 more infections, including 403 locally transmitted ones, raising the total caseload to 74,692The number of new infections was tallied at 404 for Tuesday, and 401 the following day, before failing to 346 for Thursday in the midst of toughened social distancing restrictions.Seoul and Gyeonggi Province had 127 and 117 cases, respectively, with 33 reported in Busan and 32 in South Gyeongsang Province.Nine additional coronavirus deaths were reported to bring the death toll to 1,337 with a fatality rate of 1.79 percent.The authorities conducted a total of 47,484 coronavirus tests Friday, 2,866 more than the previous day, the KDCA said.An additional 629 patients were released from coronavirus treatment, while 297 are being treated for serious symptoms, the agency added. (Yonhap)

Jan 23, 2021
Korea reports 431 more cases of new coronavirus
  • PM directs education ministry to consider expanding in-person classes

Korea gears up to start COVID-19 vaccinations next month

President Moon Jae-in visits SK Bioscience's plant located in Andong, North Gyeongsang Province, a contract-manufacturer of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccines, Wednesday. / YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jin Korea is gearing up to start COVID-19 vaccinations next month, with the first batch of vaccines expected to arrive in the country in the coming weeks.The first shipment of Pfizer vaccines for 50,000 people is likely to arrive in early February, health authorities said Thursday. It will be the first batch of doses for 10 million people Korea has secured through COVAX, the global initiative for coronavirus vaccine development and distribution.As the government speeds up its plans to start inoculations, which were initially scheduled for late February, all eyes are on whether vaccine injections will be available ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays starting Feb. 11. The government has divided the vaccination program into several steps, each managed by related governmental bodies. Once the vaccines win approval from the Ministry of Food and Drug safety, they will be delivered into the country by the

Jan 22, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Korea gears up to start COVID-19 vaccinations next month

New virus cases under 400 again; alert in place against potential upticks

A health worker at COVID-19 early testing center in front of Seoul Station in Jung District on Friday takes a nasal swab from a visitor. YonhapSouth Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 400 Friday on the back of tougher virus curbs, but health authorities warned against complacency as they try to further slow down new infections. The country added 346 more COVID-19 cases, including 314 domestically transmitted infections, raising the total caseload to 74,262, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).Friday's daily caseload was sharply down from 401 cases reported the previous day. The third wave of COVID-19 here reached its peak on Dec. 25, with the daily tally reaching 1,240, but has been showing signs of a slowdown since. The daily figure stayed in the 500s last week before it dropped to 389 on Monday and 386 on Tuesday. It hovered slightly above 400 on Wednesday and Thursday. Although new infections appear to be slowing down, health authorities have been urging people to follow enhanced social distancing rules against possible upticks. The

Jan 22, 2021
New virus cases under 400 again; alert in place against potential upticks
  • Health minister expects herd immunity to be achieved by November

Growing number of Koreans refuse life-sustaining treatment

A medical staffer takes care of a patient in the intensive care unit (ICU) at the Severance Hospital in Sinchon, Seoul, in this March 21, 2018 photo. / Korea Times fileAbout 800,000 people sign advance directive refusing life-prolonging treatmentBy Lee Hyo-jin Three years have passed since the so-called “Death with Dignity Act” came into effect here in February 2018, which enabled people to make a choice about ceasing life-prolonging medical treatment. During this period, nearly 800,000 individuals have signed up for the program by submitting an advance directive forgoing life sustaining treatment in the event they fall terminally ill with no chance of recovery.Park Jin-sook, 56, a medical staffer at a nursing hospital in Seoul, is one of them. She has seen many deaths throughout her three decades working in the medical sector, making her frequently imagine the last moments of her life. But what she feared more than death itself was the “meaningless” end-of-life care she could receive lying in coma in an intensive care unit bed, incapable of expressing her own

Jan 22, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Growing number of Koreans refuse life-sustaining treatment

'Bidencare' triggers optimism among Korean healthcare firms in US

U.S. President-elect Joe Biden prays before being sworn into office during his inauguration ceremony in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20. EPA-YonhapBy Nam Hyun-wooThe presidency of Joe Biden is anticipated to provide wider opportunities for Korean healthcare firms to improve their presence in the U.S. market, as the new president pledged to reform the country's Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare. According to a Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) report on the Biden presidency released Jan. 13, the administration is expected to employ healthcare policies aimed at enhancing the coverage of Obamacare to insure more than an estimated 97 percent of Americans. Those policies, according to KOTRA, provide greater opportunities for Korean biotech companies that manufacture generics and biosimilar drugs.“The U.S. is anticipated to enhance its efforts to control the pandemic under the Biden presidency, and this will result in greater opportunities for Korean firms that manufacture testing kits, PPE and other disinfection devices,” the report said. For this, the

Jan 22, 2021By Nam Hyun-woo
'Bidencare' triggers optimism among Korean healthcare firms in US
  • Biden presidency to benefit IT, green energy industries
  • Biden's focus on repairing alliances to impact Korea-US relations
  • 'Biden's presidency to offer Korean economy greater chance'

Military to support logistics of COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Workers unload the first Covid-19 vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech from a KLM flight at Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito, Ecuador, Wednesday. / EPA-YonhapThe military will help the government with the delivery of coronavirus vaccines to the public set to begin next month, the defense ministry said Thursday.According to the ministry's policy plan for the New Year, the government will set up a 41-member coronavirus vaccine logistics support team, comprised mostly of service members and headed by the Army's Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Park Ju-Kyeong.President Moon Jae-in said this week that the government will provide free-of-charge COVID-19 vaccines to all Koreans starting in February."The actual delivery will be done using private infrastructure as much as possible. Which company will be in charge has yet to be decided," an official told reporters. The military's main tasks will include escorting the vaccines from the airport to inoculation centers and dealing with contingencies, among other things, he said.The government earlier said it has secured access to COVID-19 vaccine

Jan 21, 2021
Military to support logistics of COVID-19 vaccine rollout

Health minister expects herd immunity to be achieved by November

By Lee Hyo-jin Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol said Thursday that herd immunity against COVID-19 is expected to be achieved in Korea by November with a public vaccination program set to begin next month. “As the first round of inoculation will be completed in September, we expect herd immunity to be formed by November, when 70 percent of the population will have received the vaccine,” Kwon said during a virtual New Year press conference, his first press “meeting” following his inauguration in December.Health Minister Kwon Deok-cheol speaks during a virtual New Year press conference, Thursday. / Courtesy of Ministry of Health and Welfare“The calculated percentage of people needed to be inoculated in order to reach herd immunity varies among health experts; some estimate it as 50 percent, but we view that 70 percent will need to have been vaccinated,” he said. He added that vaccination will not totally eradicate the spread of the coronavirus, as seen in the cases of seasonal flu and the common cold. “The ultimate goal of the vaccine plan is to

Jan 21, 2021By Lee Hyo-jin
Health minister expects herd immunity to be achieved by November
  • Pfizer expected to submit application for COVID-19 vaccine approval next week
  • Some COVID-19 mutations may dampen vaccine effectiveness
  • Chile greenlights China's Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use
  • New virus cases under 400 again; alert in place against potential upticks

Some COVID-19 mutations may dampen vaccine effectiveness

In this Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2021, file photo, a Walgreens pharmacist prepares a syringe with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for residents and staff at the The Palace assisted living facility in Coral Gables, Fla. Scientists are reporting troubling signs that some recent mutations of the virus that causes COVID-19 may modestly curb the effectiveness of current vaccines but stress that the shots still remain protective. APScientists are reporting troubling signs that some recent mutations of the virus that causes COVID-19 may modestly curb the effectiveness of two current vaccines, although they stress that the shots still protect against the disease. Researchers expressed concern Wednesday about the preliminary findings, in large part because they suggest that future mutations could undermine vaccines. The research tested coronaviruses from the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, and was led by Rockefeller University in New York with scientists from the National Institutes of Health and elsewhere.A different, more limited study out Wednesday gave encouraging news about one va

Jan 21, 2021
Some COVID-19 mutations may dampen vaccine effectiveness
  • Health minister expects herd immunity to be achieved by November
  • Pfizer expected to submit application for COVID-19 vaccine approval next week

Pfizer expected to submit application for COVID-19 vaccine approval next week

A woman holds a small bottle labeled with a "Coronavirus COVID-19 Vaccine" sticker and a medical syringe in front of the displayed Pfizer logo in this illustration taken, Oct. 30, 2020. ReutersA local office of global pharmaceutical company Pfizer Inc. is expected to submit an application for the approval of its COVID-19 vaccine to South Korea's drug safety agency, industry sources said Thursday.The company is planning to submit the application to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety before the end of this month, they said. Approval would mark the country's first batch of vaccines as part of a procurement program.Earlier, the government signed a COVID-19 vaccine procurement contract with Pfizer for 10 million people.About 50,000 doses are highly likely to be part of the first batch, which is to be provided through the World Health Organization's global vaccine project, known as COVAX, starting next month.President Moon Jae-in also said that the government will provide all South Korean people with free-of-charge COVID-19 vaccines in phases. (Yonhap)

Jan 21, 2021
Pfizer expected to submit application for COVID-19 vaccine approval next week
  • Health minister expects herd immunity to be achieved by November
  • Some COVID-19 mutations may dampen vaccine effectiveness
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