Korea’s daily Covid-19 cases slowed down over the weekend, but health officials expressed concern that the pandemic might continue longer than expected due to the emergence of the stealth Omicron variant.According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), new virus cases dropped bel
The Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) and the Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI) touted that the hybrid event of Medical Korea 2022 held online and offline ended in a great success.The two institutions stressed that the convention has heightened its reputation as a leading inter
Despite surging Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron wave, the government eased restrictions further on Friday, inviting harsh criticisms from experts who lamented that “the government abandoned quarantine efforts.”The ongoing pace of the Omicron variant’s spread has far exceeded the health authorities
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said it would work with seven private and public institutions to intensely monitor marketing sites on the internet until December to root out the illegal online sale of medicines and narcotics.The seven groups are the Korean Pharmaceutical Association, Korea Phar
Despite the skyrocketing number of Covid-19 cases surpassing 600,000 daily and increasing deaths, the government played down the danger of Omicron infection as if it were similar to seasonal flu, an expert said.On a YouTube broadcast Thursday, Professor Kim Woo-joo of infectious disease at Korea Uni
Korea, one of the exemplary fighters against Covid-19, is now confused due to surging daily infections and the death toll in what is presumed to be the final stage of the pandemic.The country reported an unprecedented 621,328 new virus cases on Thursday, breaking the previous record of 400,741 set j
As the number of Covid-19 infections spread rapidly, nearly 5,500 people lost their lives in Korea this year.The number of Covid-19 deaths in three-and-a-half months accounted for half of the country’s accumulated fatalities since the outbreak of the pandemic more than two years ago.According to the
A majority of Koreans took a positive view of changes in the government’s Covid-19 quarantine policy to cope with the Omicron variant’s spread.However, they were uncertain about the effects these changes have on minimizing the current wave, as the number of daily infections soared far more steeply t
As Korea aims to become a global vaccine manufacturing hub, the government will make a national standard specifically for the vaccine industry.Minister of Health and Welfare Kwon Deok-chul, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Moon Sung-wook, and other government officials held a meeting on Wednes
Korea's new Covid-19 cases hit yet another grim milestone as the daily tally surpassed 400,000 on Wednesday.According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, new virus cases totaled 400,741, including 400,624 local infections, to hit another record high, putting the total caseload at 7,6
Concerns are mounting that Korea’s Covid-19 situation is going to the worst.The surge of new virus cases has led to significant rises in severely ill patients and deaths. However, critics say the government pushes ahead with relaxing social distancing rules instead of going all out to contain the sp
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday that it would resume the face-to-face field inspections of Korean pharmaceutical companies’ overseas manufacturing plants from April to November.The ministry has suspended its inspections since February 2020 due to the spread of the Covid-19 pandem
The government granted emergency authorization for Actemra (ingredient: tocilizumab) to treat Covid-19 infection.However, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) said Actemra is indicated for critically ill Covid-19 patients and will not replace Celltrion’s Regkirona (regdanvimab), which is used
As the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases continued to rise, the quarantine authorities said Tuesday that they would provide intensive care for patients aged 60 or more and people with weakened immunity.Under the revised quarantine guideline, Covid-19 patients in their 50s with underlying diseases h
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) said it planned to classify a sexual lubricant to protect the vaginal mucosa as a grade 3 medical device.So far, no classification has led to the misuse of lubricants, and the government needs to manage them as medical devices to promote women’s right to h
Drained by dragging price negotiations between Novartis and the government for breakthrough cancer treatment Kymriah (ingredient: tisagenlecleucel), leukemia patients are voicing swift insurance coverage.Kymriah, a chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) cell therapy for leukemia and lymphoma, is an ult
Russia included some pharmaceutical products and medical devices in the list of its restricted export items announced last Wednesday, making it difficult to import such items, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy (MOTIE) said.The Russian government has placed 500 items on its export ban and r
The Global Vaccine Hub Promotion Team within the Ministry of Health and Welfare said it has started research to establish a joint vaccine purchase fund to ensure low- and middle-income Asian countries’ access to vaccines.According to the ministry, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (G
The government said it would start providing Covid-19 vaccines to about 3.07 million children aged 5-11 from March 31.The interval between the first and second vaccinations will be eight weeks. Still, authorities said they would shorten the period to three weeks for those requiring urgent vaccinatio
The government will exempt overseas travelers who have completed their Covid-19 vaccinations and registered their vaccination history from the mandatory weeklong self-isolation from March. 21.Until now, the government has put all foreign arrivals in self-isolation for seven days, regardless of their