The Halloween festive night in Itaewon suddenly turned tragic on Saturday after hundreds of people were caught up in a fatal crowd crush incident, killing at least 154 people and injuring 149 others.Among the deceased were 26 foreigners from 14 countries. Five were from Iran, four from China, four f
At the scene of the deadly stampede in Itaewon over the weekend, initial responses were dismally insufficient, failing to provide proper first aid to severely injured people, an emergency medicine expert said.“In a disastrous situation, the role of the nearest hospital and that of the next-phase hos
As Korea is seeing a slow increase in daily new Covid-19 cases, quarantine authorities have expressed concerns about the rise in severity and fatality rate from the virus."On Friday, the number of new Covid-19 infections was around 35,000, and the R0, or an estimated reproductive rate of how many pe
North Korea reported a total of 133,000 tuberculosis patients in 2021, a slight decrease from a year earlier but still considered relatively high, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in its Global Tuberculosis Report 2022 on Thursday.Tuberculosis is caused by bacteria called mycobacterium tuber
The detection rate of BA.5, the current dominant strain leading the Covid-19 epidemic in Korea, is gradually decreasing.As a result of analyzing the detection rate of the Omicron subvariants last week (Oct. 16-22), the Central Disease Control Headquarters confirmed that the detection rate of BA.5 wa
As the government plans to allow the cultivation and import of cannabis-based drugs in Korea soon, Korean bio-companies are actively moving to preoccupy the related market.Under the Narcotics Control Act, cannabis-based drugs currently can only be used for official and academic purposes in Korea. Al
The quarantine authorities will no longer provide Covid-19-related statistics, including the number of new Covid-19 cases, severely ill patients, and deaths, from Monday next week.The quarantine authorities have provided daily reports since Korea confirmed its first case on Jan. 20, 2020. This is th
The Covid-19 pandemic led to a shortage of cold medicines containing acetaminophen, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare has taken out an insurance drug price increase card to encourage production.The issue was also discussed during the parliamentary audit of the administration at the National Ass
Health ministers around the world pledged to enhance international collaboration to respond to a future pandemic by announcing the Seoul Declaration at the inaugural World Bio Summit (WBS) in Seoul, Wednesday.Korea’s Health and Welfare Minister Cho Kyoo-hong and World Health Organization (WHO) Assis
The first World Bio Summit (WBS), co-hosted by the Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and the World Health Organization (WHO), launched on Tuesday at the Grand Walkerhill in Seoul. The event runs through Wednesday this week under the theme, “The Future of Vaccine and Bio-health.”During his speech
The Korea Medical Institute (KMI) predicted that a new viral wave of the Covid-19 virus could come as early as next month.The medical think tank also expects that the BQ.1 strain, a sub-variant of BA.5 that is rapidly spreading in the U.S. and Europe, will become the dominant strain in Korea during
Korea's top quarantine advisor said the nation should keep face masks indoors for at least three months."After about three more months, Koreans won't have to stress too much about the indoor mask," said Jung Ki-suck, head of the National Advisory Committee on Infectious Disease Crisis Response, duri
With the chilly weather and the decrease in new Covid-19 confirmed cases, health officials are keeping a close eye on the possibility of an early winter resurgence of the virus."When looking at the recent trend of the number of confirmed cases, the decline has become stagnant," said Park Hyang, head
A controversy erupted over GC's failure to develop a plasma treatment for Covid-19 during the latest parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Health and Welfare.During the audit process, Rep. Baek Jong-hean of the ruling People Power Party said that upon reviewing additional data from the Ministry of
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to notify the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of its detection and disposal of illegal rebates in the pharmaceutical and medical device sectors within 30 days.The FTC said it would revise “guidelines on notifying ill
Starting from November, Korea will fully resume its visa-waiver program, after suspending it in early 2020 to prevent Covid-19 from spreading.The visa-free system allows entry into the country for tourism, visiting relatives, field trips, inspections, and short-term business without a visa.Korea had
The number of foreign patients who come to Korea for medical tourism is increasing due to the easing of Covid-19 quarantine measures.Rep. Suh Young-seok of the opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) said Wednesday that the number of foreign patients totaled 181,481 last year, up 34.8 percent fro
Korea's daily Covid-19 cases continued to hover around 30,000 for the second consecutive day.On Wednesday, Korea added 29,503 new Covid-19 infections, including 72 cases from abroad, bringing the total caseload to 25,194,177, according to the KDCA.Wednesday's figure is down 3,745 from a day ago and
Korea's new covid-19 cases on Tuesday nearly tripled from the previous day, amid growing concerns from health officials about the possibility of a resurgence of the virus during the winter season.On Tuesday, Korea added 33,248 new Covid-19 infections, including 87 cases from abroad, bringing the tot
A government report showed that eight out of 10 deaths in Korea last year were due to chronic diseases.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) on Monday published the “2022 Chronic Disease Status and Issues,” which annually provides the basis for establishing the relevant health indus