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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 infections under 1,000 for 2nd day amid extended virus curbs

South Korean minister of the interior and safety Jeon Hae-cheol, second from right, visited a temporary COVID-19 testing center in front of Seoul Station on Monday. YonhapSouth Korea's daily caseload of new coronavirus infections stayed below 1,000 for the second straight day on Monday due mainly to less testing over the weekend amid tougher virus curbs that have been extended for another week.The country added 808 more COVID-19 cases, including 787 local infections, raising the total caseload to 57,680, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).The daily infections fell from 970 cases on Sunday. In the past week, the nation's daily virus cases hovered around 1,000. Eleven people died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 819, with the fatality rate at 1.42 percent. On Sunday, the KDCA extended the current Level 2.5 distancing measures in the capital area and the Level 2 restrictions in the rest of the country until Jan. 3 on concerns over the impact on the economy.Health authorities will decide whether to move on to Level 3, the hig

Dec 28, 2020
New infections under 1,000 for 2nd day amid extended virus curbs
  • Cram school owners protest gov't's stricter distancing measures
  • Households emerging as hot beds for new infections
  • South Korea confirms COVID-19 variant from arrivals from Britain

Korea to shorten approval process of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments

A medical staff member holds a vial of Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at the Amedeo di Savoia Hospital in Turin, Italy, Sunday. / AP-YonhapKorea's medicine regulator said Sunday it will shorten an approval process of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, as the nation signed deals to import coronavirus vaccines amid the winter wave of the pandemic. It usually takes about 180 days for a vaccine to be approved under a standard licensing procedure, but the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it aims to shorten the approval process to as low as 40 days due to the pandemic's urgency. In Korea, a vaccine must win additional approval before it is distributed and sold. Such an approval process takes two or three months, but the ministry said it plans to shorten the process for sale to as low as 20 days. Last week, the government said Korea has signed deals with Johnson Johnson's Janssen and Pfizer to purchase COVID-19 vaccines for a total of 16 million people. Previously, the government said it had signed deals to secure vaccines for 44 million people.Korea added 970 more COVID-19 cases on S

Dec 27, 2020
Korea to shorten approval process of COVID-19 vaccines, treatments

Households emerging as hot beds for new infections

Cars line up at a drive-thru COVID-19 testing center in Seoul, Sunday. YonhapBy Bahk Eun-jiHouseholds have been emerging as hot beds for new COVID-19 infections, with one in four people found to have been infected through family members over the past month. This is expected to make it even more difficult for the government to curb the spread of the coronavirus as the rise in household transmission indicates that more people are being infected through everyday lifeIn its analysis of 15,111 cases of infection from Nov. 20 to Dec. 16, the Central Anti-Disaster Headquarters found that 3,654 people, or 24.2 percent, were infected through a family member. In particular, 766 or 43.5 percent of 1,761 children and adolescents aged under 19 were infected through secondary transmission from family members in their households. The findings came as the number of new virus cases shows few signs of abating as the figure still hovered around 1,000 over the weekend.According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Sunday, 970 new COVID-19 infections were reported for Saturday, incl

Dec 27, 2020By Bahk Eun-ji
Households emerging as hot beds for new infections
  • Korean man dies of COVID-19 after UK trip; officials examining whether he contracted new variant
  • Cram school owners protest gov't's stricter distancing measures
  • New infections under 1,000 for 2nd day amid extended virus curbs
  • South Korea confirms COVID-19 variant from arrivals from Britain

Korea to begin vaccinations of medical workers, elderly in February

Presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min speaks during a meeting with leaders of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea at the National Assembly in Seoul, Sunday. YonhapSouth Korea will begin administering coronavirus vaccines to medical workers and the elderly from February, presidential chief of staff Noh Young-min said Sunday.Noh made the remark during a high-level policy discussion between officials from Cheong Wa Dae, the government and the ruling party at the National Assembly."In terms of volume, we've already secured enough (vaccines) to protect our people. Vaccinations of medical workers and the elderly will begin in February of next year," Noh said during the meeting.Noh said that other nations are expected to offer inoculations to the general public during the second quarter and that "South Korea too will likely start vaccinations of average people around the same period."He also expected collective herd immunity among the general population to be formed in a similar time frame or faster than foreign countries. "The government is doing all it can to advance this time frame

Dec 27, 2020
Korea to begin vaccinations of medical workers, elderly in February

Korean man dies of COVID-19 after UK trip; officials examining whether he contracted new variant

A medical worker wearing protective gear takes samples from a woman during a COVID-19 testing at a coronavirus testing site in Seoul, Dec. 12, 2020. APAn elderly South Korean man, who recently returned from Britain, has posthumously tested positive for COVID-19, officials said Sunday, prompting authorities to look into whether he contracted a new variant fast spreading in the European nation.The man in his 80s had remained in self-quarantine at home in Goyang, northwest of Seoul, after arriving from Britain on Dec. 13. He passed away Saturday morning at a hospital after experiencing cardiac arrest.Samples from the man's body revealed that he was positive with COVID-19. Health authorities are examining whether the virus strain from the body is that of the new variant reportedly spreading fast in Britain.Health authorities have said they have not detected the mutated virus here yet.The Central Disease Control Headquarters said that test results on whether the virus is the new variant are expected to come out during the first week of January. Meanwhile, two family members of the elderly

Dec 27, 2020
Korean man dies of COVID-19 after UK trip; officials examining whether he contracted new variant
  • New virus cases under 1,000; tougher distancing rules under consideration
  • Households emerging as hot beds for new infections

Korea issues nationwide standstill order on poultry farms amid bird flu fears

GettyimagesbankSouth Korea issued a 24-hour standstill order on Sunday on all poultry farms across the country following a series of highly pathogenic bird flu cases.Until Sunday, all poultry farms and livestock production facilities, including their vehicles and personnel, will be subject to the movement ban, with disinfection work to be carried out during the period, authorities said. It was the second time this month that a nationwide standstill order was issued over bird flu cases. On Dec. 12, a 48-hour standstill order was issued. Violators of the order could face up to one year in prison or a fine of 10 million won (US$9,000).Last week, South Korea confirmed three more cases of highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry, raising this year's total caseload to 22 amid growing concerns over the disease spreading across the nation.The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said it has identified avian influenza of the H5N8 strain at a fowl farm in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, just south of Seoul. The country has culled about 6.3 million poultry as farm-related H5N8 infections hav

Dec 27, 2020
Korea issues nationwide standstill order on poultry farms amid bird flu fears

New virus cases under 1,000; tougher distancing rules under consideration

A woman wearing a face mask as a precaution against the coronavirus walks near the display of the Seoul logo in Seoul, Dec. 21, 2020. APSouth Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell below 1,000 on Sunday, mainly due to less testing over the weekend, as the government is considering whether to raise social distancing rules to the highest level to contain the winter wave of the virus. The country added 970 more COVID-19 cases, including 946 local infections, raising the total caseload to 56,872, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).The tally marked a decline from 1,132 cases Saturday, 1,241 cases Friday, 985 cases Thursday and 1,090 cases Wednesday. In the span of the past 10 days, the nation's daily virus cases hovered around 1,000. Fifteen people died from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the death toll to 808. Health authorities have been considering whether to raise the country's social distancing guidelines to Level 3, the highest in its five-tier scheme. However, authorities said they are aiming to contain the current wave of the pandemic wit

Dec 27, 2020
New virus cases under 1,000; tougher distancing rules under consideration
  • Korean man dies of COVID-19 after UK trip; officials examining whether he contracted new variant

Authorities in talks about KATUSA troops getting USFK's COVID-19 vaccine

Attack helicopters are parked inside the U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. Korea Times file Defense ministry officials said Saturday they talks were taking place over whether members of the Korean Augmentation to the U.S. Army (KATUSA) will receive vaccinations against COVID-19 alongside U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) personnel.A cargo plane carrying Moderna's vaccine arrived in South Korea from Memphis, Friday, the first shipment set to be administered to American service members here. It was delivered to Allgood Army Community Hospital inside Camp Humphreys, the U.S. military headquarters in Pyeongtaek, south of Seoul. The arrival of vaccines has raised the possibility that KATUSAs could also receive inoculations. Forty KATUSAs work inside the Allgood Army Community Hospital, according to a ministry official, who confirmed talks about the potential vaccination were ongoing."But we have yet to receive a formal request (from the USFK) regardi

Dec 26, 2020
Authorities in talks about KATUSA troops getting USFK's COVID-19 vaccine

South Korea adds over 1,100 virus cases despite tougher distancing rules

Anmok Beach in Gangneung, Gangwon Province, is cordoned off Dec. 25 to keep visitors away to minimize the risk of COVID-19 infections. YonhapMore than 1,100 daily new COVID-19 cases were reported here for Friday, despite all-out efforts to lower the curve of infections with the toughest distancing rules yet in place. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Saturday that 1,132 more coronavirus infections were uncovered in the previous 24 hours, including 1,104 local ones, putting the total caseload at 55,902, with the death toll rising by 20 to 793. While the daily tally is slightly lower than Thursday's record high of 1,241, the number of cases has hovered between 800 and 1,000 since Dec. 13, including five days of over 1,000 last week. The government is grappling to contain this third wave of infections with its toughest social distancing rules to date, including banning of gatherings of five or more people and shutting down popular venues over the Christmas and New Year's holiday season. It has urged the people to strictly comply with the distancing rules, warni

Dec 26, 2020
South Korea adds over 1,100 virus cases despite tougher distancing rules
  • Where are we with COVID-19 treatments, vaccines?
  • Government struggling to quell outcry over late, insufficient vaccine procurement

Infection cluster at prison challenges government's antivirus efforts

A Christmas tree stands next to a temporary COVID-19 testing facility near Gangnam Station, Seoul, Friday. / YonhapCountry's virus cases hit all-time high at 1,241By Jun Ji-hyeNew daily COVID-19 cases hit a record high for Thursday, exceeding the 1,200 mark, due mainly to continuous infection clusters including one traced to a detention center, putting more pressure on the government to raise its social distancing measures to the highest Level 3.According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Friday, the nation added 1,241 more infections including 1,216 locally transmitted cases for Thursday, raising the total caseload to 54,770. This marked a sharp rise from 985 identified for Wednesday. Among the local cases, 862 were in the Seoul metropolitan area that includes Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, the KDCA said, noting that 17 more people had died, raising the death toll to 773.The health authorities attributed the latest hike in the number of infections to 288 new cases that occurred at a detention center in eastern Seoul.The Ministry of Justice carried out a seco

Dec 25, 2020
Infection cluster at prison challenges government's antivirus efforts
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