SEOUL, Aug. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s exports of coronavirus test kits have declined since their peak in April, leading to a plunge in stock prices of test kit makers, data showed Monday. With the coronavirus pandemic raging across the globe, many countries had scrambled to import Korean COVID-19 test kits, in a boon [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 15 (Korea Bizwire) — Life satisfaction has fallen sharply among young South Koreans in the aftermath of the coronavirus outbreak, a survey showed Saturday. According to the poll of 1,055 youths nationwide conducted from July 1-21 by the Korea Youth Foundation, their life satisfaction index turned out to be 4.14 points on a [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 14 (Korea Bizwire) — The Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency launched on Thursday the process of outsourcing the design of the nation’s first shield-test facility that will be used in experiments related to the African swine fever (ASF) virus. As a 3rd grade biosafety lab, the shield-test facility is a negative pressure-type special [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Roughly one third of healthcare workers in charge of quarantine and treatment of coronavirus patients are facing burnouts, a recent survey revealed. Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health and Gyeonggi Public Health Policy Institute conducted a survey of 621 healthcare workers fighting the pandemic in the region, [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent rise in coronavirus cases among high school students raised alarm about a bigger risk to school safety, as more schools are considering larger in-person instruction in the upcoming fall semester. According to health officials and municipal governments on Thursday, five high school students in Yongin, south of [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 13 (Korea Bizwire) — Over the past year, 1 in 8 Koreans turned out to have been prescribed narcotic anti-anxiety medication, a drug safety watchdog said Wednesday. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety analyzed the use trend of narcotic anti-anxiety drugs for medical use monitored through the Narcotics Information Management System during [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean biopharmaceutical firm Celltrion Inc. said Wednesday that its two kinds of diagnostic kits for the novel coronavirus began sales in the United States. A point-of-care antigen testing (POCT) kit, dubbed “Sampinute,” co-developed by local health care firm BBB, was commercialized following emergency approval by the U.S. Food [...]
DAEJEON, Aug. 12 (Korea Bizwire) — A team of South Korean researchers has developed a mini-organ ‘intestine organoid’ where intestinal microorganisms can thrive. The Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology announced on Monday that it had developed an intestine organoid which is expected to clear the way for new research into intestinal microorganisms. Existing [...]
SEOUL, Aug. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea has approved first phase clinical trials for a potential treatment material for the novel coronavirus, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Friday. The material to be tested is GX-17 being developed by local biotech firm Genexine, the government agency said. GX-17 is a so-called repositioning [...]
INCHEON, Aug. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — At first glance, it looks like an ordinary hotel, but visitors soon realize that the place is not a normal lodging facility when they see signs like “go back to your room now” on elevators. South Korea’s Central Disaster Management Headquarters operates nine temporary quarantine shelters in the greater [...]