South Korean biotech firms are exporting their novel coronavirus test kits as countries scramble to stem the rapid spread by isolating infected people, industry sources said Tuesday. Seegene, Kogene Biotech, Solgent, SD Biosensor and other companies have all received permission from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) to sell their products in South Korea, as well as in overseas markets. The products that have received permission mostly use real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR

River of Grace Community Church in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province, is alleged to have sprayed saltwater into the mouths of people attending church services on March 1 and 8, which may have contributed to the cluster infection of at least 46 people with the novel coronavirus. “It is very unfortunate. As we were reviewing the CCTV footage from River of Grace Community Church, we found that members of the congregation were sprayed saltwater into their mouths one-by-one because of misinformati

Harvard epidemiology professor estimates up to 60 percent of adults will get infected

As the new coronavirus spreads throughout the nation, more and more people are reluctant to go to the gym for a workout. The situation worsened Thursday, when the city of Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province, said 80 people had tested positive for the virus after taking Zumba classes at local fitness centers or coming into contact with people who took those classes. “I used to take Zumba lessons at a fitness center near my home. Since last week, the center temporarily closed down and I

The abrupt outbreak of the novel coronavirus, officially named as COVID-19, has been dominating headlines around the world. The virus, widely believed to have originated from China’s Hubei province last year, has sparked global concerns outside the mainland ever since. Moreover, the epidemic has disrupted the everyday lives of many South Koreans in many ways. Concerns and fears are mounting here that the virus might escalate much more than SARS and MERS outbreaks in the past. The dema

When dealing with an infectious disease with no available vaccine or treatment, the only containment strategy is testing and diagnosing suspected cases fast and isolating confirmed patients, according to Korean medical experts on Tuesday. Addressing a press conference, six medical societies developing, conducting and quality-controlling tests for the novel coronavirus COVID-19 said as many as 15,000 tests can be done in a day by around 12,000 specialists at 77 medical institutions across

　The new coronavirus that emerged in central China at the end of last year has now killed more than 2,000 people and spread around the world. 　The latest figures from China show there were more than 74,185 people infected in the country as of Wednesday. 　SARS was also a coronavirus, and that outbreak started in a wet market too. It infected 8,098 people and killed 774 between November 2002 and July 2003.

A series of novel coronavirus cases without epidemiological ties to previous patients have been reported in Korea in the past four days, with one believed to be linked to at least 15 others. A Korean woman, 61, who started having symptoms as early as Feb. 7, continued with her daily tasks until she was found to be infected Tuesday.  Over the 11 intervening days, authorities say she came into close contact with at least 166 people -- 49 of them health workers -- all of whom are now quaran

　More than 85,000 terminally ill South Koreans have chosen to forgo life-prolonging treatment since the legalization of the right to die with dignity two years ago, government data showed. 　The law took effect on Feb. 4, 2018, allowing terminal patients to sign up to forgo a “meaningless extension of life” by stopping or postponing four life-sustaining treatments. 　According to the data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of patients who opted to die with dignit

Infectious disease experts say virus battle far from over

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Seven in 10 lung cancer patients who have undergone surgery at Asan Medical Center in Seoul have survived, the hospital said in a report.  The cardiothoracic surgery department at Asan Medical Center in southern Seoul said Monday the postsurgery survival rate of patients with lung cancer, the sixth most common cancer among Koreans, has improved markedly over the past decade. In the hospital’s study of around 7,500 lung cancer patients from 2002 to 2016, the five-year survival rate in

PYEONGCHANG, Gangwon Province -- Korea is hosting an international meeting to fight the rising public health threat of drug resistance.The seventh session of the Codex Alimentarius Commission task force on antimicrobial resistance kicked off Monday in Pyeongchang, Gangwon Province, to be held for five days through Friday.In 2015, the World Health Assembly adopted a global action plan to tackle the trend of antimicrobial resistance. The international food standards body Codex launched the task fo

　South Korea ranks as one of the leading members among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in the treatment of cancer, medical data showed.　The 2019 Health at a Glance report released by the Paris-based organization said Asia’s fourth-largest economy had the highest five-year survival rate for colorectal, rectal and stomach cancers among the 32 member states checked, the Ministry of Health and Welfare, which examined the data, said.　The cancer survival rate, which is