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.

Commuters still wear masks despite end of mask mandate on public transportation

People wearing face masks get on a bus at a stop in Seoul, Monday, on the first day of the lifting of the mask mandate for public transportation. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeMost people kept wearing their face masks on buses and the subway, Monday, although the mask mandate for public transportation came to an end starting at midnight. Coincidentally, the worst levels of ultrafine dust affected the country, also Monday, offering people yet another reason to remain masked up. Health authorities lifted one of the last-remaining COVID-19 restrictions amid a COVID-19 downtrend, two years and five months after wearing a mask on public transportation (buses, subways, taxies and airplanes) became mandatory in October 2020 at the height of the pandemicA young woman without a mask is seen standing up next to an old woman wearing a mask on a bus in Seoul, Monday, the first day of the lifting of the mask mandate on public transportation. YonhapOf the 12 commuters who were waiting for buses at a stop near Namseong Station in Seoul's Dongjak District in the morning, nine were wearing masks. One man, who w

Mar 20, 2023By Jun Ji-hye
Commuters still wear masks despite end of mask mandate on public transportation

Korea reports additional African swine fever case in one month

Quarantine officials block a road leading to a pig farm in the county of Yangyang, Gangwon Province after confirming an African swine fever case there, Feb. 12. YonhapKorea reported another African swine fever case after a one-month hiatus on Monday, and issued a standstill order on pig farms and related facilities in the country's northern regions, the agriculture ministry said.The animal disease was found at a pig farm in the city of Pocheon, 41 kilometers northeast of Seoul, which raised 12,842 pigs, after 50 of the pigs died last week and an in-depth inspection was conducted, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.It marked the fifth ASF case in the country so far this year, with the last case being reported in the northern county of Yangyang in mid-February.The authorities are culling pigs raised there as a preventive step and issued a 48-hour standstill order in the western city of Incheon, Gyeonggi Province, and the northern part of Gangwon Province to be effective through 5 a.m. Wednesday, it added.They will also carry out inspections into adjacent a

Mar 20, 2023
Korea reports additional African swine fever case in one month

Mask mandate on public transportation to end Monday

People wearing masks inside a subway station in Seoul, Sunday, walk past a poster notifying that masks are no longer required on public transportation, including subways, buses, taxis and planes, starting Monday. The removal of the mask mandate on public transportation comes two and a half years after the government adopted the rule in October 2020. YonhapThe government's decision to lift the mask mandate on public transportation and pharmacies in open public spaces will go into effect this week amid a gradual COVID-19 virus downtrend. The removal of the mask mandate on public transportation, including subways, buses, taxis and planes, Monday comes 2 1/2 years after the government adopted the mask rule in October 2020. COVID-19 infections have been on the decline since the removal of most indoor mask mandates in late January. On Jan. 30, the government removed the mask requirement for most indoor places, except for public transportation, hospitals and a few other high-risk areas. According to polls conducted in January, 7 out of 10 people said they will continue to wear masks due to

Mar 19, 2023
Mask mandate on public transportation to end Monday

Korea to lift mask mandate on public transportation starting Monday

Commuters wearing masks wait for buses at a stop in Seoul, Wednesday. The mask mandate on public transportation will be lifted starting Monday, according to the government.By Jun Ji-hyeThe government has decided to lift the mask mandate on public transportation, including buses, subways and airplanes, starting Monday as the COVID-19 situation continues to stabilize, health authorities said Wednesday.The mask mandate was enforced in Korea starting in October 2020 when the pandemic raged.During a government meeting on COVID-19 responses, Vice Interior Minister Han Chang-seob said the decision was made in consideration of the COVID-19 infection numbers, which have continued decreasing even after the government lifted most of the mandatory indoor mask-wearing rules on Jan. 30.“The daily average number of virus cases has decreased by 38 percent even after mask-wearing requirements were adjusted on Jan. 30, while the number of new seriously ill patients has fallen by 55 percent,” Han said. “Plus, mutant virus variants have not been discovered in recent weeks. The virus si

Mar 15, 2023By Jun Ji-hye
Korea to lift mask mandate on public transportation starting Monday

Incheon, Jeju receive additional funding to attract medical tourists

Foreign patients consult a physician, in a white gown, and a medical coordinator, far left, before receiving treatment at a medical clinic in Incheon in February 2023. Courtesy of Incheon Metropolitan CityHealth ministry injects money to offer clinics financial boostBy Ko Dong-hwanKorea has become one of the favored destinations for foreigners seeking both affordable and quality medical services and the Ministry of Health and Welfare has selected cities that will receive funding to have hospitals there accommodate more patients from abroad.Jeju Special Self-Governing Province, Incheon Metropolitan City and Daegu Metropolitan City were selected after a tender process that was led by the ministry, which funded each with over 200 million won ($160,000).The bidding process took place as the ministry is seeking to restructure policies to host more local medical service providers who are willing and qualified to cater to foreign patients. To this end, the ministry revised its enforcement ordinances on local clinics to allow them to advertise their services to foreign patients. The revision

Mar 12, 2023By Ko Dong-hwan
Incheon, Jeju receive additional funding to attract medical tourists

Korea considers lifting mask mandate on public transportation

A woman wearing a mask passes by an electric board displaying the number of daily COVID-19 cases at Seoul Station, Thursday. YonhapBy Jun Ji-hyeThe government is considering lifting the mask mandate for public transportation soon, as COVID-19 infection numbers have continued decreasing in recent weeks.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Thursday that health authorities have been keenly monitoring the situation after most of the indoor mask-wearing rules were lifted on Jan. 30.The authorities also consulted with experts about the possibility of further lifting the remaining rules, beginning with the rule for public transportation.“The announcement about the timing will be made sometime next week,” the official said. Last May, Korea lifted its outdoor mask rule in a major step toward supporting a return to normality.Then on Jan. 30 this year, the government lifted most of the rules for mask-wearing indoors, allowing people to visit most places, including schools, kindergartens and gyms, without masks. Nonetheless, masks remain mandatory at hospitals

Mar 9, 2023By Jun Ji-hye
Korea considers lifting mask mandate on public transportation

Regional public hospitals suffer serious staff shortage

Cheongju Medical Center in North Chungcheong Province / Korea Times fileBy Jun Ji-hyePublic medical centers located outside of Seoul are suffering serious doctor shortages due mainly to the lower pay and educational standards seen further out from the city. According to documents submitted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare to Rep. Suh Jung-sook of the ruling People Power Party, 24 out of 35 regional medical centers have failed to meet the necessary quota for doctors as of January this year.The ratio of vacancies on average is about 18 percent, meaning that each hospital is one out of five doctors short of the necessary amount needed to operate normally.Unpopular fields such as pediatrics, obstetrics, cardiothoracic surgery and neurosurgery have faced a more serious operating crisis, causing damage to patients in regional areas. Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Ansung Hospital closed its operating room for two months from December to January. It could not recruit an anesthesiologist at the time. Incheon Medical Center has suspended the operation of its hemodialysis unit after th

Mar 9, 2023By Jun Ji-hye
Regional public hospitals suffer serious staff shortage

REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK Time for Korea to drop air travel mask mandate

gettyimagesbank By Jung Min-hoA flight attendant starts telling passengers to put on their masks after serving meals on a plane late at night. A passenger sitting next to the window without wearing one continues to sleep as if he did not hear the voice, while some people reluctantly put their masks back on to cover only their mouth while their noses remain exposed. This scene, observed on a Korean Air flight from Incheon to Sydney on Feb. 26, showed that Korea's air travel mask mandate no longer achieves the results it intended: Many don't wear their masks (unless they are told to by flight attendants) and the rule is not being strictly enforced.Korea is one of only a handful of countries that still require people to wear masks on airplanes and other public transportation amid the COVID-19 pandemic. But the effectiveness of that policy has increasingly been questioned, especially given the fact that more than 98 percent of the population are estimated to have COVID-

Mar 6, 2023By Jung Min-ho
[REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK] Time for Korea to drop air travel mask mandate

Korea's new COVID-19 cases around 10,000; gov't mulls lifting antivirus measures

Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong presides over a meeting with health authorities on COVID-19 in Sejong, March 3. YonhapKorea reported 10,408 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, as the government said it will start discussions on lifting the remaining antivirus measures.The figure is up by 357 from the previous week and slightly higher than the past seven-day average of 9,195, data from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) showed.The total caseload came to 30,543,981. Korea reported 11 deaths, bringing the death toll to 34,014.Critically ill patients stood at 135, up from the previous day's 129.The KDCA said it will begin discussions on lowering the country's alert level against COVID-19 from the current "serious" to "cautious," depending on the results of the World Health Organization's meeting on the pandemic, scheduled for around late April to early May.Korea has maintained a COVID-19 alert level of "serious" since February 2020. The further lifting of the remaining antivirus restrictions, such as the seven-day quarantine rule and the indoor mask mandate in certain areas,

Mar 3, 2023
Korea's new COVID-19 cases around 10,000; gov't mulls lifting antivirus measures

Aerospace administration to be launched by end of 2023

In this file photo taken June 21, 2022, Korea's homegrown space rocket Nuri lifts off from the Naro Space Center in Goheung, South Jeolla Province, southwestern Korea, as the country makes a second attempt to put a satellite into orbit. YonhapKorea will launch an independent aerospace administration to assume full charge of the state-led space programs and aeronautics research by the end of this year, the science ministry said Thursday.The Ministry of Science and ICT preannounced the enactment of a special law to establish the national aeronautics administration, or the Korean version of the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA).The ministry said it will seek parliamentary approval in June and open the administration in December.Under the new law, the new administration will lead the country's space program, aeronautics research and space research, including moon and Mars exploration projects.It will recruit top space experts and researchers at home and abroad, with foreign nationals to be eligible for a post in the administration, according to the science ministr

Mar 2, 2023
Aerospace administration to be launched by end of 2023
previous page
8182838485
next page

Most Read in South Korea