SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — This year’s chewing gum and candy sales have dwindled as more people are staying indoors to avoid the coronavirus. Lotte Confectionery Co., a unit of retail giant Lotte Group, said Sunday its chewing gum sales in the second annual quarter amounted to 37 billion won (US$31.1 million), down by [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — Families are being torn apart as the government is imposing stricter social distancing policies following the second wave of the coronavirus outbreak in August. Currently, a majority of hospitals are refusing to allow family members to visit the intensive care unit. Even in regular wards, only one guardian is [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s health authorities said Monday that some test kits that can detect both the new coronavirus and seasonal flu are under review for approval of their use. As autumn is approaching, health authorities are preparing to tackle both COVID-19 and flu as it is not easy to distinguish [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A set of tougher social distancing restrictions continued Monday to affect the daily lives of residents in Seoul and nearby areas, with eating at franchise bakeries and ice cream shops prohibited under a supplementary step. The government earlier extended the so-called Level 2.5 alert against COVID-19 transmissions through this [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A military hospital near Seoul will begin accepting more civilian coronavirus patients this week following a recent spike in the number of infections in the capital area, the medical command said Monday. At the request of the health authorities, the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam, south of Seoul, [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea reported 167 cases of the coronavirus on Sunday, marking the fourth straight day of under 200 new infections, though health authorities remain vigilant over sporadic cluster outbreaks. Of the total, 152 were local infections and a majority of them came from the greater Seoul area, including 63 [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — Three-fourths of large companies in South Korea have no hiring plan or have not confirmed their recruiting scheme for the second half of the year amid the novel coronavirus pandemic, a poll showed Sunday. Half of the companies that responded to the Korea Economic Research Institute’s (KERI) survey answered [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s tougher anti-virus curbs in place in the greater Seoul area will be extended by another week, with additional measures starting Monday, as the country seeks to contain another wave of the virus outbreak in the densely populated region. The country’s eight-day restrictions on restaurants, bakeries and franchise [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 5 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean health authorities said Saturday that it is a “positive” sign that the number of additional new coronavirus cases here stayed below 200 for the third straight day, but they urged people not to let down their guard as the pandemic could flare up any time. The country [...]
SEOUL, Sept. 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Upcoming local biennial art exhibitions will go virtual to allow people to enjoy high-quality artworks at home amid the prolonged coronavirus pandemic. The Busan Biennale 2020, a biennial international contemporary art show held in the southern port city of Busan, will kick off Saturday and run through Nov. 8 [...]