A teenage pneumonia patient who died Wednesday morning in Daegu was coronavirus-negative, health officials said Thursday. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a briefing the 17-year-old’s death was not linked to COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Medics at the Daegu hospital had tested him for COVID-19 several times, as his chest imaging showed sign...

South Korea is instituting amplified checks on arrivals at its air and sea ports to monitor infections coming in from abroad. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday that of 64,497 arrivals at the Incheon and Gimhae international airports in the past week, 17 had tested positive for the virus. So far, 79 returnees and travelers were later found to be infected after the...

Experts say chest CT scans and X-rays can reveal COVID-19 infections that go undetected by RT-PCR, which is currently the chief method for determining if a person has the disease. Speaking at a conference organized by the Korean Federation of Science and Technology Societies last week, radiologist Do Kyung-hyun of Asan Medical Center in Seoul said the chest radiographs of otherwise asymptomatic ...

Health authorities and experts on Wednesday held a meeting with the World Health Organization for research on South Korean cases of COVID-19. On Tuesday, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the UN agency would be joining the COVID-19 cohort studies led by researchers here. The Wednesday meeting, organized by the National Medical Center, was attended by four officials from ...

South Korea’s health authorities said Wednesday that they were looking into the death of a 17-year-old at a hospital in Daegu for a possible link to the novel coronavirus. If COVID-19 turns out to be a factor, it will mark the country’s first teen death from the disease. The patient died of multiple organ failure at 11:15 a.m. at Yeungnam University Hospital in the city’s Nam-gu district, where ...

What’s making the fight against the coronavirus harder in South Korea is the spread of misleading information surrounding the new disease. The National Police Agency embarked on a crackdown on circulation of coronavirus fake news as early as January, in coordination with the Korea Communications Commission and other relevant agencies. The police said producing and peddling false information reg...

The spring semester is set to start in 10 days after closing for three weeks, but is it safe for children to go to school? The Ministry of Education says it plans on resuming K-12 classes March 23, a date that has already been postponed twice over the outbreak of coronavirus here. “Pushing back the school calendar further is not something we are considering at the moment. But then again, noth...

The new coronavirus outbreak in Seoul, a city of 9 million, is feared to grow after an infection cluster was identified Monday at a call center in a heavily trafficked district in Guro. Health officials said one of the workers who tested positive for the virus started having symptoms as early as Feb. 22 before being diagnosed this week. The confirmed cases linked to the call center numbered 102 ...

South Korea is telling its citizens to stay home and avoid gatherings, in an anti-coronavirus campaign known as “social distancing.” But staying put is a luxury for many rent-paying small business owners and workers who can’t afford to take time off. The coronavirus cost Shin Hye-ryong, who runs two cafes in Suwon and Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, nearly half of his regular revenue last month. He ...

The spread of the novel coronavirus has outpaced any other epidemic in South Korea so far this century. 50 days into the outbreak, much still remains unknown about the disease, which is deadlier than the flu and more infectious than Middle East respiratory syndrome. But this is a fight that can’t be fought by doctors alone, and there is something everyone can do to mitigate its toll, according t...

South Korea is the country with the highest number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus outside China, accounting for about 6.9 percent of the 105,586 infections worldwide. Since the first case was reported Jan. 20, Korea has tested 196,618 people and confirmed 7,382 cases, according to the latest official tally published Monday. Its death rate stands at 0.7 percent. In discussing some of ...

The new coronavirus epidemic in South Korea has led to an upheaval in school calendars across the country, with all schools ordered to suspend classes until at least March 23. But for many students here, their educational obligations extend beyond the K-12 curriculum to cram schools known as hagwons. While the government has urged the private after-school tutoring services to defer classes to jo...

New government guidelines issued Tuesday say face masks are not recommended for healthy individuals who are not having respiratory symptoms or fever. Instead, practicing social distance, maintaining good personal hygiene and keeping rooms well ventilated are the best ways to prevent infection, the Drug Safety Ministry said, stressing that people who are not at risk of contracting the virus do no...

Being exposed to the risk of becoming infected was also something Kim and his colleagues had to accept, working closely with the patients. At the hospital where he is, there were only around 2,000 protective suits for the entire staff, which is enough to last just about four days, he said. Although the Health Ministry, to overcome shortages, has advised health personnel to wear surgical gowns a...

Founder and leader of a messianic Christian church Shincheonji Lee Man-hee’s purported presidential watch is fueling suspicions about his ties with the conservative political faction. In a press conference Monday, the leader of a cult now linked to over 2,400 virus cases was spotted with a Cheong Wa Dae souvenir watch bearing the name of former President Park Geun-hye. Lee’s watch had liberal f...