Rising number of COVID-19 patients waiting for hospital care in Korea

More than 800 patients with COVID-19 in Seoul were waiting for hospital beds for more than a day on Saturday, as infections continue to rise at record levels amid the country’s phased exit from pandemic restrictions. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare data, the number of patients waiting for a bed to open up for longer than a day rose to 804 on Saturday at midnight from 659 seen the day prior. More than half, or 478, of them had been waiting for more than two days, and 421

Nov. 21, 2021

[From the scene] As home isolation becomes default, bed availability remains issue

Health care workers in charge of looking after COVID-19 patients in home isolation are calling on authorities to ensure at least some hospital beds are kept aside for worsening cases, citing a lack of emergency provision. As the recent surge fills hospitals, patients who were only minimally sick initially and prescribed home care are being left without a bed after their conditions rapidly deteriorate, they said. In Korea, home recovery has been the default option for patients under 70 year

Nov. 21, 2021

[News Focus] Pay gap for regular, nonregular workers widening

SEJONG -- Nonregular workers’ pay has risen quite slowly compared to regular workers over the past four years, government data shows. According to Statistics Korea, the average monthly pay for regular employees reached 3.33 million won ($2,790) this year. This marked a 17 percent increase -- or by 485,000 won -- from 2.85 million won in 2017. But the increase in average pay for nonregular employees was 12.7 percent -- or 200,000 won -- over the corresponding period, from 1.56 million wo

Nov. 21, 2021

Fine dust blankets much of South Korea

A choking pall of fine dust plagued much of South Korea on Saturday, prompting authorities to urge vulnerable people to stay indoors. As of noon, the density of ultrafine dust, called PM 2.5, hit the "very bad" level for Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi Province and South Chungcheong Province, according to data from the state-run Korea Environment Corp. Other parts of the country, excluding Gwangju and South Jeolla Province in the southwest, registered "bad." The level of fine d

Nov. 20, 2021

S. Korea's daily COVID-19 cases hover over 3,000 for 4th day

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 3,000 for the fourth consecutive day Saturday, raising concerns over a virus resurgence ahead of the winter months and the full-fledged reopening of schools. The country reported 3,212 new COVID-19 cases, including 3,194 local infections, raising the total caseload to 412,311, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Saturday's caseload was up 178 from the previous day and marks the third-largest tally since the p

Nov. 20, 2021

Ultrafine dust advisory in effect in Seoul

An ultrafine dust advisory was issued for all of Seoul on Friday for the first time in about six months, the metropolitan government said. The advisory was issued at 7 p.m. as the hourly average density of ultrafine dust particles soared to 83 micrograms per cubic meter as of 6 p.m. and to 96 micrograms per cubic meter one hour later in 25 districts across the capital, according to the city-run Research Institute of Public Health and Environment. It was the first ultrafine dust advisory iss

Nov. 19, 2021

[From the scene] Korea’s top health protection agency chief gets third COVID-19 shot

CHEONGJU, North Chungcheong Province -- head of South Korea’s national health protection agency was vaccinated with a third dose of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, having received two AstraZeneca doses more than six months ago. Jeong Eun-kyeong, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s commissioner, received the booster at around 11:10 a.m. at a hospital in Cheongju, North Chungcheong Province. As immunity from vaccinations wanes over time, Jeong said she fe

Nov. 19, 2021

Return to normal could stop with rise in serious COVID-19 cases: PM

South Korea could stop its return to normal, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday as the country continued to see a sharp rise in the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients, placing a strain on the supply of medical resources. Kim said in a meeting Friday that hospital beds across the country must be efficiently managed as they are quickly being filled, impeding a swift medical response for COVID-19 patients. Setting aside more hospital beds and medical resources is a priority for the go

Nov. 19, 2021

Quintuplets born in South Korea for first time in 34 years

South Korea saw the first successful birth of quintuplets in 34 years, with help from dozens of doctors and nurses on the night of the delivery. Seoul National University Hospital said Friday that the four girls and one boy were born there at around 10 p.m. Thursday. Twenty doctors and 10 nurses assisted in the cesarean section delivery. The surgery was done under the lead of Dr. Jun Jong-kwan, a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the hospital and an expert in multiple births. The child

Nov. 19, 2021

In-person school classes to fully resume next week

In-person school classes will fully resume next week following the end of this year's national college entrance exam, the education ministry said Friday. In line with the government's "living with COVID-19" scheme, all kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools across the country will return to full-fledged in-person classes Monday for the first time in nearly two years since the pandemic broke out. Early this month, the government eased social distancing rules under the firs

Nov. 19, 2021

S. Korea's daily COVID-19 cases hover over 3,000 for 3rd day

South Korea's new coronavirus cases stayed above 3,000 for the third consecutive day Friday amid deepening concerns over the continued growth in critical cases and strained medical resources. The country reported 3,034 new COVID-19 cases, including 3,011 local infections, raising the total caseload to 409,099, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Friday's figure marked a fall from an all-time high of 3,292 the previous day, but it is still the fourth-largest d

Nov. 19, 2021

17 days of normal push Korea’s COVID-19 cases to hit new high

South Korea saw the highest number of new COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic Thursday, just 17 days into its return to normal scheme. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said 3,292 cases were registered in the preceding 24 hours, exceeding the 3,000 mark for the second day in a row. The previous one-day record was 3,270 cases on Sept. 25, in the aftermath of Chuseok holiday season. The new all-time high comes as the country takes its first step toward normal life, wit

Nov. 18, 2021

[News Focus] Nonregular jobs increase faster in 5 major cities

SEJONG – Major cities outside the capital have led the increase in the proportion of nonregular jobs in South Korea over the last four years. According to Statistics Korea, 38.4 percent of workers had nonregular status in 2021, an all-time high and up 5.5 percentage points from 32.9 percent in 2017, when President Moon Jae-in took office. Nonregular workers include temporary workers, part-timers and others in underemployed status.   While the situation is causing weakening job secu

Nov. 18, 2021

Beaumax donates 30,000 masks to Myanmar upon high school kid’s request

Cosmetics firm Beaumax donated 30,000 face masks to support disadvantaged children in Myanmar struggling with COVID-19, acting on a high school student’s proposal. The Seoul-based company said Thursday it has donated the masks to Myanmar as part of nonprofit Worldshare’s Disaster Vulnerable Overseas Children’s Project. The donation, made in the name of Beaumax CEO Han Hyun-woo, was suggested by a high school sophomore. The company said Kim Jae-yeon, a student at Cheongshim In

Nov. 18, 2021

[Photo News] Rogers family in hanbok

(jylee@heraldcorp.com)

Nov. 18, 2021

Daily reports of stalking sharply increase after implementation of anti-stalking law: police

The number of stalking complaints filed with police shot up to about 103 cases a day since the anti-stalking law went into effect a month ago from the daily average of 24 cases, police data showed Thursday. A total of 2,774 stalking complaints were filed for four weeks since the law took effect on Oct. 21, compared with 6,939 cases reported for nearly 10 months this year before the law's implementation, according to the data. The anti-stalking law, the first in South Korea to specifically targ

Nov. 18, 2021

S. Korea's daily virus cases hit new record high amid relaxed virus curbs

South Korea's new coronavirus cases hit an all-time high on Thursday since the start of the pandemic amid eased social distancing rules, putting health authorities on alert over further upticks. The country reported a record high of 3,292 new daily cases, including 3,272 local infections, raising the total caseload to 406,065, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Thursday's daily caseload marks the highest since the country reported its first COVID-19 case in J

Nov. 18, 2021

National college entrance exam kicks off amid pandemic

Nearly 500,000 high school seniors and other exam takers nationwide sat down to take the annual national college entrance test Thursday, the second such exam held against the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic. About 509,000 high school seniors, graduates and others signed up to take the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), a single-day five-session exam, held this year at 1,251 test sites nationwide. It is the second CSAT the country has held since the onset of the pandemic in early 2020.

Nov. 18, 2021

Gimhae city apologizes for mandatory virus testing of foreign children amid xenophobia concerns

The government of the southeastern city of Gimhae apologized Thursday for ordering mandatory COVID-19 tests of foreign children registered at the city's daycare centers amid a backlash over xenophobia and rights violations concerns. A government memo obtained by Yonhap News Agency earlier this week showed the municipality, located 300 kilometers southeast of Seoul, ordered 93 daycare centers to cooperate with preemptive tests of foreign children under their care on Monday and Tuesday. The city

Nov. 18, 2021