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Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall below 40,000 amid 'twindemic' worries

This photo taken on Nov. 4 shows a notice about the simultaneous testing of COVID-19 and seasonal influenza at a hospital in Seoul amid concerns over a possible outbreak of a "twindemic" of COVID-19 and seasonal flu during winter. YonhapKorea's new coronavirus cases fell below 40,000 on Sunday amid concerns over a possible outbreak of a "twindemic" of COVID-19 and seasonal influenza during the winter. The country reported 36,675 new COVID-19 infections, including 66 from overseas, bringing the total to 25,838,239, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.Daily infections jumped to 58,363 on Nov. 1 from 18,504 a day earlier but have been on the decline. The daily caseload stayed above 40,000 in the past three days amid the twindemic worries. The country added 18 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 29,372. The number of critically ill patients stood at 346, up from 314 a day earlier, the KDCA said.Health authorities remain on alert over a possible resurgence of the pandemic this winter. On Friday, Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said the number of daily infe

Nov 6, 2022

Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall below 40,000 amid 'twindemic' worries

Koreans move out of pandemic's shadow after nearly 3 years of battling COVID-19

Yoo Seo-yun gives a high-five to her father Sang-ryong at their home in Seoul, Oct. 21. The 10-month-old baby was born on Dec. 20, 2021, few weeks before the Omicron variant took over as the dominant strain in Korea, leading to the worst COVID-19 wave the country has experienced throughout the pandemic. A world of masks and social distancing is all the toddler knows. But as the country prepares to return to normalcy, the baby will now have more exposure to the outside world. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulPeople learn to live COVID-19 as country enters endemic phaseBy Lee Hyo-jin When Korea confirmed its first case of the coronavirus on Jan. 20, 2020, few expected the respiratory virus to be around for this long, or to disrupt people's daily lives this severely. At the peak of social distancing restrictions, private gatherings of more than two people were prohibited in the evenings, while restaurants and bars were forced to close at 9 p.m.As of Oct. 28, which marks 1,013 days since the identification of the first virus case, nearly half of the country's 52 million population has

Nov 4, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin

Koreans move out of pandemic's shadow after nearly 3 years of battling COVID-19

Gov't strengthens CPR training to teenagers

Paramedics and police officers prepare to transfer victims of the Itaewon crowd crush tragedy to a hospital, Oct. 30. YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jin In the wake of the deadly large-scale crowd crush in Itaewon, which has highlighted the importance of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid skills, the government is expanding CPR training to teenagers and workers at youth-related facilities.During the crowd crush disaster that occurred on the night of Oct. 29, the paramedics, police officers and ordinary people on the streets were seen desperately performing CPR on dozens of people suffering from cardiac arrest after they were trapped and crushed in the area's narrow alleys. CPR is an emergency lifesaving procedure involving chest compressions and rescue breathing, performed when a person's heart stops beating. Immediate CPR can double or triple the chances of survival after cardiac arrest.The Itaewon disaster has raised public interest on the lifesaving technique. Online users are sharing on social media video clips on how to perform CPR, while many people are signing up for free tra

Nov 3, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin

Gov't strengthens CPR training to teenagers

Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall below 50,000 amid 'twindemic' worries

A medical worker helps a woman at a COVID-19 testing center in Yongsan, central Seoul, on Nov. 1, 2022. YonhapKorea's new coronavirus cases fell below 50,000 on Thursday amid concerns over a possible outbreak of a "twindemic" of the pandemic and seasonal influenza this winter. The country reported 46,896 new COVID-19 infections, including 55 from overseas, bringing the total to 25,717,277, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.The daily caseload stayed above 50,000 on Tuesday and Wednesday after falling below 20,000 on Monday due to fewer tests over the weekend. The government said last week it will expand booster shots against omicron variants to all people aged over 18 amid concerns about the risks of a simultaneous outbreak of COVID-19 and the seasonal flu. The country added 41 deaths from COVID-19, bringing the death toll to 29,280. The number of critically ill patients stood at 290, down 13 from a day earlier, the KDCA said. (Yonhap)

Nov 3, 2022

Korea's new COVID-19 cases fall below 50,000 amid 'twindemic' worries

Experts discuss steps to cope with future pandemics more effectively

Medical workers transfer a COVID-19 patient to an emergency room at a hospital in Seoul, March 17. YonhapBy Lee Hae-rinThere is a 50 percent chance that humanity will face another pandemic within 20 years, according to Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The unprecedented COVID-19 crisis that has devastated the world may be beginning to ease. However, humanity still lives close to wildlife that could host pathogens of future pandemics helped along by climate change, population growth and deforestation.The coronavirus was not the first viral outbreak seen in recent years. The country was hit by Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) in 2015, as well as by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) in 2002 and 2003. COVID-19, however, was exceptional in scale and duration worldwide, due to its particular fatality and infection rate along with the continuous emergence of new variants, medical experts said.As of Wednesday, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported 625.7 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, including

Oct 31, 2022By Lee Hae-rin

Experts discuss steps to cope with future pandemics more effectively

Korea's new COVID-19 infections below 40,000 for 3rd day

People wait in line to get tested for COVID-19 at a screening center in Seoul Station in central Seoul on Oct. 28. YonhapKorea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 40,000 for the third straight day Saturday amid concerns of a possible resurgence.The country reported 37,321 new COVID-19 infections, including 56 from overseas, bringing the total to 25,504,288, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said.The tally marks the highest for a Saturday in six weeks.The previous day, the country's health minister had warned that daily caseloads have passed a plateau and are showing signs of a resurgence.Amid concerns of "twindemic" risks from COVID-19 and the seasonal flu, health authorities announced Wednesday expanding booster shots against omicron variants to all adults aged over 18.On Saturday, the country also reported 31 more deaths, bringing the death toll to 29,131.The fatality rate stood at 0.11 percent.The number of critically ill patients came to 270, up 18 from the previous day.Of the 37,265 locally transmitted cases, Seoul reported 7,577 infections, with the surroundi

Oct 29, 2022

Korea's new COVID-19 infections below 40,000 for 3rd day

Korea faces 7th wave of COVID-19 pandemic

People wait to get tested for COVID-19 at a testing center in eastern Seoul on Sept. 15. YonhapBy Lee Hyo-jin Korea is facing a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections, but it may be less severe than previous ones due to the build-up of immunity from prior infections and vaccinations, according to medical experts. The experts anticipate the newly emerging Omicron variants BQ.1 and offspring BQ 1.1 ― also known as Typhon and Cerberus respectively ― to lead the upcoming seventh wave, replacing parent variant BA.5.Early studies suggest the two Omicron descendants evade immunity attained from previous infections or vaccines on a greater scale than other variants. The variants, which appear to have first emerged in Nigeria in July, are spreading quickly across European countries including France, Belgium and Spain as well as the United States and Japan, leading to a spike in infections.Korea has also seen an uptick in BQ cases. The variants accounted for an estimated 0.9 percent of the total infections across the country in the second week of October, but the figure jumped to 3.7 percent the fo

Oct 28, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin

Korea faces 7th wave of COVID-19 pandemic

Korea's new COVID-19 infections below 40,000 for 2nd day

A government notice about the government's COVID-19 vaccination plan for adults over 18 is posted on the wall of a hospital in Seoul on Oct. 27. YonhapKorea's new COVID-19 cases stayed below 40,000 for the second straight day Friday amid lingering concerns over resurgence woes.The country reported 35,924 new COVID-19 infections, including 60 from overseas, bringing the total to 25,466,992, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Friday's tally is a drop from the weekly peak but 11,173 higher than that logged from the previous week, KDCA data showed.Health Minister Cho Kyoo-hong said early Friday that daily caseloads have "passed a plateau and are showing signs of a resurgence," with the R figure ― a way of rating the coronavirus or any disease's ability to spread ― above 1 for two consecutive weeks. An R value over 1 means the number of cases is increasing. The country reported 31 deaths, bringing the death toll to 29,100. The number of critically ill patients came to 252. Booster shots against the omicron variant have been expanded to adults aged over 18 since W

Oct 28, 2022

Korea's new COVID-19 infections below 40,000 for 2nd day

INTERVIEW Korea is outlier on face masks: Australian health expert

Sharon Lewin, director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, speaks during a session at the 2022 World Bio Summit held in Seoul, Wednesday. Courtesy of Ministry of Health and WelfareCOVID-19 pandemic will persist in 2023, but with less severe waves: LewinBy Lee Hyo-jin Korea is an outlier when it comes to the mask mandate and people's tendency to wear face masks, says Sharon Lewin, director of the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity. “I've been travelling to a lot of countries and Korea is an outlier on masks. I'd be very interested to know if it is making a big difference to your numbers (of infections),” the Australian infectious disease specialist said in an interview with The Korea Times, Wednesday, during the 2022 World Bio Summit held in Seoul. Lewin is the inaugural director of the Melbourne-based Doherty Institute, which was the first facility to isolate and share the SARS-CoV-2 virus outside of China in January 2020, and has played a major role in the global response to the pandemic.She further said that she was quite fascinate

Oct 27, 2022By Lee Hyo-jin

[INTERVIEW] Korea is outlier on face masks: Australian health expert

Korea's new COVID-19 infections below 40,000 after a two-day uptrend

A person gets tested for COVID-19 at a testing center in Seoul, Oct. 26. YonhapKorea's new COVID-19 cases fell below 40,000 on Thursday, breaking an upward trend that had continued for the past two days.The country reported 34,987 new COVID-19 infections, including 55 from overseas, bringing the total caseload to 25,431,105, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said. Thursday's tally is a 5,855 drop from the previous day, but slightly higher than the past seven day average, KDCA data showed. The country reported 26 deaths, bringing the death toll to 29,069. The number of critically ill patients came to 242.Health authorities said Wednesday it will expand booster shot vaccinations to all adults aged over 18, as the country braces for a possible "twindemic" outbreak of COVID-19 and the seasonal influenza this winter.Starting Thursday, reservations for COVID-19 boosters will open for adults aged from 18 to 59.Individuals can choose between three types of mRNA vaccines ― Moderna and Pfizer shots against the BA.1 variant, and Pfizer shots against the BA.4 and BA.5 varian

Oct 27, 2022

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