SEOUL, April 13 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea plans to change most of the current graphic warning images used on cigarette packs to encourage smokers to quit, the health ministry said Monday. Of the 12 photos currently used on packs, nine will be replaced with new images starting later this year, according to the Ministry [...]
SEOUL, April 10 (Korea Bizwire) — Samsung BioLogics, a biopharmaceutical unit of South Korea’s Samsung Group, said Friday that it has clinched a US$362 million deal to manufacture a candidate treatment for the novel coronavirus. Under the deal, Samsung BioLogics will start full-scale production of U.S. drug firm Vir Biotechnology’s candidate COVID-19 treatment that is [...]
SEOUL, April 9 (Korea Bizwire) — It was April 8 at the Dongsan Hospital in the southeastern city of Daegu, the epicenter of the virus outbreak here. A nurse dressed in a Level D protective suit and a complement of protective gear looked on stoically. But before entering the ward, she clasped her hands together [...]
SEOUL, April 9 (Korea Bizwire) — A Korean mobile medical van has been donated for the first time to help respond to the novel coronavirus outbreak in Madagascar, an island country in the Indian Ocean. The Madagascar branch of the non-profit organization Africa Future Foundation provided a mobile medical van with X-ray equipment on April [...]
SEOUL, April 9 (Korea Bizwire) — A growing number of South Korean hospitals are reporting financial difficulties as their outpatient numbers have dropped significantly due to the COVID-19 outbreak. According to a survey of 62 hospitals conducted by the Korean Medical Association (KMA) the number of outpatients dropped by an average of 16.3 percent (44.5 [...]
SEOUL, April 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Three South Korean companies have inked contracts with the U.S. government to export coronavirus test kits, with shipments likely to take place next week, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday. The companies won interim approval last month from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the exports, after U.S. [...]
SEOUL, April 8 (Korea Bizwire) — Lee Ga-ram, 37, was forced to give up her decadelong annual ritual of having a picture taken of herself in the same spot at Seokchon Lake, one of Seoul’s most popular cherry blossom sites, as access to the park was closed due to the coronavirus pandemic. “It is just [...]
SEOUL, April 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea will set guidelines for the treatment of coronavirus patients with plasma from those who have recovered from COVID-19, a senior health official said Tuesday, after two patients here were declared cured upon receiving the therapy. The therapy involves infusions of blood plasma from coronavirus survivors to virus [...]
SEOUL, April 6 (Korea Bizwire) — While a growing number of countries are requesting imports of medical products such as novel coronavirus test kits from South Korea, there have also been calls for cooperation in software technology. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Singapore recently asked for technical cooperation regarding a quarantine protection application [...]
SEOUL, April 5 (Korea Bizwire) — Exports of sanitary goods such as hand sanitizers and coronavirus test kits surged last month in line with growing demand from overseas for such Korean-made goods, data showed on Sunday. According to the data compiled by the trade ministry, outbound shipments of hand sanitizers surged sevenfold to reach US$5.69 [...]