SEOUL, Jan. 11 (Korea Bizwire) — As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to drag on, the effects of various non-medical virus mitigation measures such as mask-wearing or social distancing are slowly dimming. A research team from Chung-Ang University Hospital compared the epidemiological data and the timing of the introduction of various non-medical measures between COVID-19 and [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 8 (Korea Bizwire) — U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) said Saturday it has decided to toughen social distancing rules for its service members amid the growing number of infections among its troops. The USFK had confirmed a weekly record high of 682 additional COVID-19 cases among its personnel from Dec. 28 to Tuesday. It [...]
SEOUL, Jan. 7 (Korea Bizwire) — A number of cafes and restaurants in commercial districts in Seoul have defiantly stayed lit up past midnight in collective action protesting the government’s 9 p.m. anti-COVID-19 business curfew. Small bistros lining the Baekhack traditional marketplace in central Seoul, and restaurants and food vendors on a food street near [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 31 (Korea Bizwire) – The government will extend toughened social distancing rules for two more weeks through mid-January, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said Friday, amid efforts to bring down the number of serious coronavirus cases and contain the omicron variant. “It is too early to think that we have overcome the crisis,” Kim [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 20 (Korea Bizwire) — Slightly over 70 percent of South Koreans approve of toughened social distancing measures to stem the resurgence of COVID-19, a poll showed Monday. In the poll of 1,000 adults nationwide organized by multiple civic groups, 71.3 percent supported the government’s decision to halt the “living with COVID-19″ scheme this [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — Schools in the greater Seoul area will roll back their full in-person classes and go back to partial e-learning starting next week in line with the country’s tightened anti-COVID-19 curbs, the education ministry announced Thursday. Under its restored e-learning scheme, middle and high schools in the greater capital area [...]
SEOUL, Dec. 9 (Korea Bizwire) — The numbers for suicides, and traffic and crime-related deaths fell in 2020 due largely to various social distancing schemes imposed over concerns of the COVID-19 pandemic, the government said Thursday. According to the interior ministry, the combined number of deaths connected to traffic accidents, crimes and suicides stood at [...]
SEOUL, Nov. 1 (Korea Bizwire) – City centers in Seoul welcomed back the return of rush hour crowds Monday morning as office workers and students resumed their in-person lives under the government’s “living with COVID-19″ scheme aimed at bringing the nation gradually back to pre-pandemic normalcy. South Korea activated on Monday the first of the [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 30 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s military plans to ease its social distancing restrictions, including curbs on off-base trips, in phases and administer booster shots for all service members by early next year, the defense ministry said Friday. Defense Minister Suh Wook finalized the plan at a video-linked meeting with top military commanders, [...]
SEOUL, Oct. 29 (Korea Bizwire) — The government said Friday it will raise the private gathering limit to 10 people for the greater Seoul area and scrap business curfews on all multi-use facilities, except nightlife establishments, for four weeks starting next week under a “living with COVID-19″ scheme. A “vaccine pass” system, which requires visitors [...]