Korea's new Covid-19 cases surpassed 7,000 for the first time on Wednesday, despite the government’s suspension of the "living-with-covid" scheme to re-strengthen quarantine restrictions.On Wednesday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed 7,175 new virus cases, including 7
Despite fierce backlash from parents and students, the government said Tuesday that it would push ahead with reinforcing the vaccine mandate for students aged 12-18 from February.The new measure comes as the vaccination rate for those aged 12-17 stood at 32.5 percent, far lower than the average. Und
After the government put on hold measures to “live with Covid” amid rising Covid-19 cases, presidential candidates criticized the government for hastily attempting to return to normalcy without proper preparations.One candidate demanded expanding public healthcare services, and another, revising the
The government ranked the Covid-19 risk at the highest level for the second consecutive week, warning that it exceeded medical capacity.Notably, the greater Seoul area, which comprises Seoul, the western port city of Incheon, and surrounding Gyeonggi Province, showed the highest risk level, while th
The government has decided to strengthen its Covid-19 quarantine steps again, backing away from the “living-with-covid" scheme adopted a month ago, officials said Friday.For instance, it will limit private gatherings to six people in the Seoul metro region and eight in the rest of the country for fo
After confirming the first case of the Omicron variant infection on Thursday, the government decided to re-impose strict quarantine steps, including the forced isolation of all new arrivals for 10 days.The nation has confirmed five Omicron variant patients so far.A couple in their 40s, living in Inc
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Wednesday that it has begun reviewing data after Pfizer Korea applied for a preliminary review of clinical data for approving its Covid-19 vaccine for children aged 5-11.Pfizer Korea had submitted immunogenicity results and safety data when applying for the
Korea's daily Covid-19 infections surpassed 5,000 for the first time Wednesday as concerns were mounting over the global spread of Omicron, a new virus variant.The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) confirmed 5,123 new virus cases, including 5,075 local infections, to raise the cumul
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on Tuesday it started reviewing approval for the import of Pfizer’s Covid-19 vaccine Comirnaty Inj. 0.1㎎/㎖, which can be used without dilution.The vaccine has the same ingredient as the existing Pfizer vaccine Comirnaty but does not require dilution. A singl
The quarantine authorities are making every effort to check whether Omicron, a new Covid-19 variant, has entered Korea by analyzing all the genomes of confirmed patients from overseas.Quarantine officials reported that two of the new confirmed cases in Ulsan, 404km southeast of Seoul, were found in
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on Monday it revised the manufacturing standards for drugs to add new formulations and ingredients and to expand the scope of approval for ingredient specifications.The ministry said that the revision aimed to revitalize the manufacturing of over-the-counter
The government has banned entry to Korea of foreign nationals from eight South African countries -- South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Lesotho, Eswatini, Mozambique, and Malawi – where the new Covid-19 variant, Omicron, is spreading rapidly.The government will deny visa issuance for these co
The government will announce strengthened quarantine measures next Monday as the numbers of new Covid-19 cases and severely ill patients hit record high levels amid eased restrictions.The health authorities were scheduled to unveil stricter viral curbs on Friday but postponed it until next week as t
Japan is the only country that witnessed a plummet in the number of Covid-19 cases, and the secret must have been strict social distancing, observers said. Tokyo is maintaining strong viral curbing measures such as banning a gathering of five or more people.According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, L
As the spread of Covid-19 intensifies amid eased quarantine system, the occupancy rate of hospital beds for critically ill patients in the Seoul metro region is approaching 84 percent.At 5 p.m. Wednesday, the utilization rate of sickbeds for severely ill Covid-19 patients in the greater Seoul area r
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) and the Korea Association of Obstetricians & Gynecologists (KAOG) have expressed widely different views of the laws over an introduction of an abortion drug Mifegymiso (mifepristone/misoprostol).The clash between the two sides erupted after an MFDS officia
AstraZeneca Korea’s non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) treatment Tagrisso (osimertinib) and Ono Pharma Korea’s immunotherapy Opdivo (nivolumab) failed to get expanded health insurance coverage.On Wednesday, the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) released the results of the cancer
Korea's daily Covid-19 infections and severe cases soared to all-time highs on Wednesday, jolting the government to consider implementing an emergency response plan beginning with the Seoul metro region.The KDCA reported 4,116 new virus cases, including 4,088 local infections, raising the cumulative
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) will hold an advisory meeting with external experts on Wednesday to discuss whether an abortion pill Mifegymiso should become a prescription drug and who should be allowed to prescribe it.Moon Eun-hee, director of the Pharmaceutical Policy Division at the
The government said Tuesday it would strengthen quarantine restrictions, possibly holding the current “living with Covid” strategy if the virus spread keeps aggravating. Korea is recording an all-time high figure in the number of severely ill Covid-19 patients, with more and more patients unable to