Virus death toll tipped to sharply rise amid spiking critically ill patients

South Korea on Tuesday reported the most coronavirus deaths in a single day, as critically ill patients continue to pile up amid spiking cases, health authorities said. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the country reported 13 additional deaths from COVID-19, raising the total caseload to 600. It marks the first time that the daily death toll hovered above 10. The number of seriously or critically ill COVID-19 patients came to 205, sharply up 20 from the previous day

Dec. 15, 2020

S. Korea to install more fences to prevent African swine fever

South Korea said Tuesday it will further raise its guard against African swine fever (ASF) amid a growing number of infections among wild boars, which could potentially spread to pig farms. Since October last year, South Korea has identified a whopping 883 cases of ASF from wild boars in border areas, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food, and Rural Affairs. The country earlier installed fences at border areas to prevent wild boars from reaching pig farms, but traces of the disease we

Dec. 15, 2020

COVID-19 cluster at remote nursing home infects 62 people

Over 60 coronavirus infections have been traced to an elderly nursing home in a quiet southwestern town, officials said Tuesday, the latest in a spate of infection clusters breaking out at multiuse facilities across the nation. The number of COVID-19 patients related to Canaan Nursing Home in Gimje, a North Jeolla Province city about 260 kilometers south of Seoul, has risen to 62 and is expected to grow further, the provincial officials said. The nursing home, where 123 people -- 69 residents

Dec. 15, 2020

New virus cases spike again, nearing 900; virus battle on tight rope amid faster spread

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases bounced back to nearly 900 Tuesday after a brief fall the previous day, as the country struggles to curb the nationwide spread of the virus in winter, warning that the toughest virus curbs may be adopted. The country added 880 more COVID-19 cases, including 848 local infections, raising the total caseload to 44,363, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). Tuesday's daily virus caseload marked a rise from 718 on Monday, but

Dec. 15, 2020

S. Korea's bird flu battle at critical juncture

South Korea's agricultural ministry said Tuesday the number of highly pathogenic bird flu cases from local poultry farms may continue to rise down the road due to seasonal migratory birds, urging farmers to beef up preventive measures against the contagious animal disease. "As migratory birds will continue to flock into the country through January, local poultry farms are currently at a critical juncture," the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said in a statement. South

Dec. 15, 2020

S. Korea sets up free Wi-Fi networks on buses in operation across nation

South Korea has established free Wi-Fi networks on around 35,000 city buses operating across the nation, allowing citizens aboard to access the internet free of charge and reduce their mobile phone bills, the ICT ministry said Monday. The Ministry of Science and ICT said it marks the first time in the world that free Wi-Fi services will be provided on all of the 35,006 city buses in operation. The ministry and 16 provincial governments began setting up free Wi-Fi networks on buses in 2018 an

Dec. 14, 2020

KDCA predicts up to 1,200 cases per day

Korea stopped short of the most stringent restrictions in its COVID-19 playbook on Monday, amid a record-shattering surge in infections. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s chief Jung Eun-kyeong said in a news briefing that the nation was facing “the worst phase yet in the pandemic,” urging people to abide by social distancing rules. “Cancel all plans and stay at home as much as possible. Wear face masks in any social situation, indoors or outdoors,&rdqu

Dec. 14, 2020

Home care workers, after-school tutors to receive W500,000 in COVID relief

Around 90,000 home care workers and after-school tutors will receive 500,000 won ($458) in coronavirus relief funds from the government in the first half of next year, the labor minister said Monday. The payment is part of a government plan to support essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Labor Minister Lee Jae-kap said during a virtual briefing from the administrative city of Sejong. The essential workforce also includes health care workers, delivery workers and sanitation workers.

Dec. 14, 2020

17 USFK members test positive for new coronavirus

Sixteen American service members have tested positive for the new coronavirus upon arrival in South Korea over the past few weeks, the US Forces Korea (USFK) said Monday. Three service members and a family member arrived at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on US government-chartered flights, while 11 service personnel and one dependent arrived here on commercial flights via Incheon International Airport, west of the capital, between Nov. 28 and Dec. 11, according

Dec. 14, 2020

Yeonsu-gu to host 5th UNESCO International Conference on Learning Cities in 2021

Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, has been selected to host the UNESCO Institute for Lifelong Learning’s fifth International Conference on Learning Cities in 2021. The district said Monday that it will coordinate with the Education Ministry, the Culture Ministry, the Incheon city government and the city’s education office to host the three-day conference on “global health education and emergency response” in October. Following the official designation made Wednesday, the UNESCO insti

Dec. 14, 2020

[Newsmaker] Police book YouTubers, others after chaos outside child rapist's home

Ansan Danwon Police Station said Monday eight people had been booked for alleged offences outside the residence of child rapist Cho Doo-soon in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, following his release on the weekend. One of those under investigation, a 17-year-old, was booked for allegedly attempting to break into Cho’s residence by climbing a wall, and another is under investigation for allegedly assaulting police officers. A man in his 50s was booked for allegedly interfering in the teenager&rs

Dec. 14, 2020

Seoul to open 18 more treatment centers for COVID-19 patients

Eighteen more residential treatment centers will open in Seoul this week to cope with surging numbers of coronavirus cases in the capital, the city government said Monday. The centers will be run by the city's wards and house 1,577 additional beds for COVID-19 patients with mild symptoms, Park Yoo-mi, a disease control official at the city government, said at a regular press briefing. Five centers with a total of 569 beds opened Sunday. The remaining 13 centers are scheduled to open by the wee

Dec. 14, 2020

[Newsmaker] S. Korea on high alert over nationwide spread of bird flu

South Korea said Monday it is speeding up efforts to cull poultry in areas affected by highly pathogenic bird flu amid growing concerns over the nationwide spread due to migratory birds. The country has identified 13 highly pathogenic bird flu cases across the nation so far this year, with the latest case being reported at a chicken farm in Gimpo, located just west of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. South Korea reported its first farm-related case in Je

Dec. 14, 2020

New virus infections under 1,000 on fewer tests; efforts extended to find more potential cases

South Korea's daily new coronavirus cases fell back below 1,000 on Monday on fewer tests over the weekend after topping the mark for the first time the previous day, with health authorities struggling to conduct more virus tests to rein in further spread. The country added 718 more COVID-19 cases, including 682 local infections, raising the total caseload to 43,484, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA). On Sunday, the country reported its largest daily caseload e

Dec. 14, 2020

Hundreds of special forces personnel mobilized to support virus fight

More than 300 Special Warfare officers were dispatched to public health centers Monday to help with the government's handling of the new coronavirus, the Army said. A total of 379 officers from the Army's Special Warfare Command were sent to 79 public health centers in Seoul and the surrounding areas to conduct diverse supporting roles, such as contact tracing, data management and transferring samples for virus tests for two months, according to the Army. The move came as the metropolitan ar

Dec. 14, 2020

More than 2m facilities to face restrictions under Level 3 social distancing: ministry

More than 2 million multiuse facilities and businesses will face restrictions if the government raises the social distancing scheme to Level 3, the health ministry said Sunday. Son Young-rae, a ministry spokesman, told a regular press briefing that the highest level calls for a no-assembly order on around 450,000 facilities and restricted services at around 1.57 million others. South Korea operates a five-tier social distancing scheme, with the greater Seoul area currently under the second-high

Dec. 13, 2020

[Newsmaker] ‘Winter did not have to be this bad’

A winter surge of COVID-19 infections was something that Korea was well warned against but did not do enough to prepare for, experts say, arguing that any further delay in response could exact a greater toll in lives than earlier heights of the pandemic. Korea just saw its worst weekend yet for COVID-19 cases, tallying record-high numbers of new infections for two consecutive days at 950 cases and 1,030 cases. For the first time since the virus took hold, the number of patients under treatment

Dec. 13, 2020

What will build people’s trust in COVID-19 vaccines?

Recent blunders with flu shots should serve as a lesson that clear communication backed by science is key to bolstering the public’s embrace of the coming COVID-19 vaccines and offsetting mistrust, experts say. Earlier in the fall, more than 1 million doses of flu vaccine were recalled over suspected contamination or exposure to temperatures outside their safe range. Public health authorities were accused of withholding information on the mishandling for at least three days -- during whi

Dec. 13, 2020

S. Korea confirms two more cases of highly pathogenic bird flu in poultry

South Korea confirmed two more cases of highly pathogenic bird flu at a poultry farm in a southern region on Sunday amid growing concerns over the disease spreading nationwide despite tougher measures. Avian influenza (AI) of H5N8 strain was found from samples collected from two duck farms in Yeongam county, 384 kilometers south of Seoul, according to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It marked the country's 11th and 12th highly pathogenic AI case in domestic birds this year

Dec. 13, 2020

Sunfull Foundation leads campaign for wearing mask to fight COVID-19

As a second and even third wave of the pandemic continues to rise in many parts of the world, the Sunfull Foundation has been working on overcoming the crisis by spreading awareness online all around the world. On Dec. 4, the foundation led by Dr. Min Byoung-chul, a professor at Hanyang University, initiated the #WearAMask4All Global Challenge, taking a cue from US President-elect Joseph R. Biden’s message to stand in solidarity in overcoming the pandemic. The campaign aims to remind th

Dec. 13, 2020