my timesThe Korea Times
South Korea

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.

Seoul mandates mask-wearing in public places; violators to be fined

YonhapSouth Korea's capital began to mandate face masks Monday in its latest efforts to put the brakes on the new coronavirus that is spreading at an alarming rate in Seoul and surrounding areas.Under the move, all Seoul residents are required to wear masks at indoor areas, as well as crowded outdoor venues, with the exception of taking them off for meals, according to the Seoul metropolitan government."With the exception of personal spaces like one's home, masks should be worn in all indoor areas. Masks should also be worn outside unless there is no one around you," said Park Yoo-mi, the city's director of public health. "What's important at the moment is wearing masks itself."The city had previously mandated face masks on buses, taxis and subways starting in mid-May when the country saw a spike in infections traced to nightlife facilities in the capital."By mandating masks, we hope to again set the notion and remind all residents that wearing face masks is the basics of staying safe in everyday life, as well as a social promise," the city's acting Mayor Seo Jeong-hyup said in a Sun

Aug 24, 2020
Seoul mandates mask-wearing in public places; violators to be fined
  • Virus crisis escalates on soaring infections across nation
  • Citizens join '#stayhomechallenge' movement to fight coronavirus
  • PHOTOS Uphill battle against virus
  • Gov't pressed to raise social distancing level to highest

Untraceable infections, fast spread hamper Korea's efforts to curb virus

New virus cases with unknown infection routes, coupled with the pace of virus spread in South Korea, are emerging as major challenges in the country's fight to curb nationwide outbreaks.The country's daily new virus cases have been in the triple digits for 11 consecutive days. What is worrisome is that the number of untraceable virus cases has been piling up at alarming rates, further complicating health authorities' efforts to trace and isolate potential cases. South Korea reported 397 coronavirus cases, the highest total in more than five months, on Sunday. The number of additional new coronavirus cases sharply slowed to below 300 on Monday, but the country is still bogged down with a series of cluster infections continuing in the greater Seoul area and other major cities.Jeong Eun-kyeong, the director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), has said that the peak has yet to come citing the large number of cases with unknown infection routes as a major risk factor."Investigation into these cases could lead to confirmation of other cluster infections, so I wo

Aug 24, 2020
  • S. Korea reports 266 new coronavirus cases

S. Korea reports 266 new coronavirus cases

- S. Korea reports 266 more cases of new coronavirus, total now at 17,665- No additional coronavirus death, total at 309- 19 more patients released from coronavirus treatment, total now at 14,219The number of additional new coronavirus cases in South Korea sharply slowed to below 300 on Monday, but the country is still bogged down with a series of cluster infections continuing in the greater Seoul area and other major cities.Of the 266 new COVID-19 cases, 258 were locally transmitted, raising the total caseload to 17,665, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).Monday's daily tally marks a sharp slowdown from the 397 newly identified cases the previous day, but fewer virus tests over the weekend might have dragged down the number of new cases.On Sunday, a total of 13,236 virus tests were conducted, compared to 15,386 tests on Saturday and 21,677 tests on Friday. On Thursday, 20,040 tests were carried out.Since Aug. 14, the country's daily virus cases have been in triple digits, as sporadic clusters in the greater Seoul area piled up, mostly traced to

Aug 24, 2020
S. Korea reports 266 new coronavirus cases
  • Untraceable infections, fast spread hamper Korea's efforts to curb virus
  • Gov't pressed to raise social distancing level to highest

Virus crisis escalates on soaring infections across nation

Health officials carry out COVID-19 testing at a makeshift testing facility in an elementary school in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province, Sunday, as at least two students there tested positive for the virus. / YonhapDaily infections near 400; 3-day total exceeds 1,000By Jun Ji-hyeThe health authorities said Sunday that the daily new COVID-19 infections here neared 400 the previous day with the number of patients increasing rapidly not only in the Seoul metropolitan region but also in other cities and provinces nationwide.New cases have been mostly in Seoul and its surrounding areas since early May following an outbreak at Itaewon clubs, but infections have recently appeared to be spreading rapidly nationwide, with the latest number of new cases reported in non-capital areas nearing 100 daily.The sharp increase in cases is mainly attributed to church-related infections having continued to spread to more people. “Infections are spreading widely not only in the capital region but also other parts of the country,” Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Director Jun

Aug 23, 2020
Virus crisis escalates on soaring infections across nation
  • Busan-based churches, local government at odds over mass gathering ban
  • Parties reviewing further disaster relief funding
  • Starting Monday, everyone in Seoul to be required to wear mask in public
  • Seoul mandates mask-wearing in public places; violators to be fined
  • PHOTOS Uphill battle against virus

Starting Monday, everyone in Seoul to be required to wear mask in public

A couple wearing face masks to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus walks along on a nearly empty shopping street in Seoul, Sunday, Aug. 23, 2020. APStarting Monday, people in Seoul will be required to wear masks while in public.Seo Jeong-hyup, acting mayor of Seoul, made the announcement at a press briefing on Sunday, hours after the country reported 397 new coronavirus cases.South Korea is scrambling to contain the nationwide spread of COVID-19. There have been over 2,600 cases in the past 10 days, following a stretch in which the daily cases stayed in the double digits.Under Seoul's mandate, residents must wear masks and face coverings at all times in public, except when they're eating or drinking.Seoulites have been required to keep masks on when using public transit since May 13."Wearing masks is at the very foundation of quarantine in daily life," Seo said. "Our citizens have been very cooperative with our mandate on mask-wearing on public transit. I expect them to once again establish the new social norm."In addition to mandating masks, Seo also said the city wil

Aug 23, 2020
Starting Monday, everyone in Seoul to be required to wear mask in public
  • Virus crisis escalates on soaring infections across nation

Busan-based churches, local government at odds over mass gathering ban

Two screens set up on both sides of the cross at Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul on Sunday read online church services will be continued until Aug. 30. / YonhapBy Kang Hyun-kyungBusan-based Protestant churches and the local government clashed Sunday as the former pushed for physical Sunday worship services, amid a heightened alert on the spread of COVID-19 following a new wave of infection clusters. The city government warned of punitive measures to defiant churches that didn't follow guidelines for social distancing imposed Friday. On Saturday, the Christian Council of Busan (BCC) sent letters to 1,800 Busan-based churches, encouraging them to go ahead with physical church services, as opposed to online streaming services, despite the public gathering ban. BCC members met to discuss the city government's executive order, which told the local churches to move to online services and to cooperate with the local government to help cope with the spread of the coronavirus.They agreed to push for the physical church services Sunday, claiming the local government's decision to ban them br

Aug 23, 2020By Kang Hyun-kyung
Busan-based churches, local government at odds over mass gathering ban
  • Churches in Seoul hold online services on first Sunday under strict distancing guidelines
  • Virus crisis escalates on soaring infections across nation

Churches in Seoul hold online services on first Sunday under strict distancing guidelines

Members of a disinfection company sanitise the Yoido Full Gospel Church, which is the largest church in the country, in Seoul, Aug. 21, 2020. ReutersUnder the government directive to hold socially distanced services, churches in Seoul remained empty on Sunday with some exceptions.This was the first Sunday since the government increased the intensity of its social distancing guidelines in Seoul and its surrounding regions a week ago. Placed under Level 2 in the three-tier system, churches in those areas are only allowed to organize online services, with only essential personnel permitted inside. On Saturday, the government expanded Level 2 social distancing to the rest of the country.Churches have recently emerged as a hotbed of coronavirus outbreaks, with cluster infections tied to regular services and small gatherings by church members. South Korea has reported over 2,600 new COVID-19 cases over the past 10 days, hundreds of them linked to churches in the greater Seoul area.Some of the capital city's major churches vowed to keep their gates closed on Sunday and comply with quarantin

Aug 23, 2020
Churches in Seoul hold online services on first Sunday under strict distancing guidelines
  • Busan-based churches, local government at odds over mass gathering ban

World virus deaths top 800,000 as countries ramp up measures

A tourist poses on a rock for a photo outside the Colosseum monument on Aug. 22, 2020, in Rome during the COVID-19 pandemic. AFPThe global death toll from the new coronavirus has surpassed 800,000, according to an AFP count on Saturday, with numerous countries ramping up restrictions in an effort to battle an eruption of new cases.Western Europe, particularly Spain, Italy, Germany and France, has been hit with infection levels not seen in many months, sparking fears of a fully-fledged second wave.And in Asia, South Korea became the latest country to announce it would boost restrictions to try to stem a new outbreak, after largely bringing the virus under control.Across the world, the number of deaths has doubled to just over 800,000 since June 6, with 100,000 fatalities in the last 17 days alone, while more than 23 million cases have been reported. Latin America is the region the most affected, while more than half the global fatalities have been reported in the hardest-hit United States, Brazil, Mexico and India.The surging numbers come after the UN health agency said Friday that th

Aug 23, 2020
World virus deaths top 800,000 as countries ramp up measures

Trainee doctors at all levels on strike despite gov't plea during pandemic

Trainee doctors gather near the Konkuk University Medical Center, Sunday, in protest against the government's plan of increasing number of doctors. YonhapTrainee doctors across all levels have begun an indefinite strike, protesting the government's medical workforce reform plan amid the COVID-19 pandemic.The Korean Intern and Resident Association said Sunday that the first- and second-year residents became the last group of trainee doctors to join the protest earlier in the day. Since Friday, interns and third- and fourth-year residents walked out of hospitals.They are opposed to the government's plan to increase admission quotas at medical schools.As part of the country's medical workforce reform plan, the health ministry is planning to expand admission quotas at medical schools by 4,000 over the next 10 years, starting in 2022, and to open a new public medical school as it seeks to broaden the reach of health care services.This will increase the number of students admitted annually to medical schools to 3,458 in the 2022-2031 period from the current 3,058, according to the plan.Doc

Aug 23, 2020
Trainee doctors at all levels on strike despite gov't plea during pandemic

New coronavirus cases near 400, alarm all across Korea

Visitors wearing face masks to help protect against the spread of the coronavirus visit the Gyeongbok Palace in Seoul, Monday, Aug. 17, 2020. APSouth Korea's daily new virus cases spiked to 397 on Sunday, and infections were reported in all major cities and provinces across the country, health authorities said.Of the total COVID-19 cases, 387 were local infections, 297 of them in Seoul and the surrounding areas, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).The country's total caseload has risen to 17,399.Sunday's new cases are the most since March 7, when the country reported 483 new cases, the KCDC said. The number of daily infections has been in the triple digits since Aug. 14, when 103 additional cases were reported. Over the past 10 days, a total of 2,629 cases has been identified.A resurgence in new coronavirus cases, mostly traced to churches, has been reported in Seoul and its surrounding Gyeonggi Province, home to half of the country's 51 million people.Of the newly identified local infections, 138 cases were reported in the capital city of Seoul,

Aug 23, 2020
New coronavirus cases near 400, alarm all across Korea
previous page
326327328329330
next page

Most Read in South Korea