For more on this, we connect to our Lee Kyung-eun on the line.
Kyung-eun, give us the latest COVID-19 situation. Mok-yeon, the country reported 4-hundred-sixty-three new cases on Monday. That brings the figure back into the four-hundred range for the first time in a week,partly due to fewer tests being conducted during the weekend.
Among the new cases,the majority of the 4-hundred-36 cases were locally transmitted.
Of those,.. more than 60 percent were reported in the capital region.
The virus has claimed 1 more life, raising the death toll to one,eight-hundred-75. On the vaccination front,South Korea is beginning to accept reservations for more senior citizens today,who s included in this round?
South Korea on Monday began accepting COVID-19 vaccine reservations,for the next group of senior citizens those between the ages of 65 and 69.
This is the second of the three-stage reservation program,which covers people between 60 and 74,who will be getting the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The first reservation round took place four days ago, for the oldest group those between 70 and 74.
After this second round, the final group, those between 60 and 64,can book their shots from Thursday. Out of the 1,874 people who ve died of COVID-19 in South Korea, over 95 percent were 60 or older. Senior citizens absolutely need to get vaccinated. Not for the goal of reaching herd immunity, but for their own health and safety.
Amid a potential fourth wave of COVID-19, South Korea has given the greenlight to self-testing kits, to ramp up early detection of cases.
The Food and Drug Safety Ministry on Friday decided to grant temporary approval,for two locally-produced self-testing kits, for three months, before they are officially approved.
Both products have already been granted emergency authorization in several countries. Users of self-testing kits swab their samples from their nose,… and the results are read in 15 to 20 minutes.
That is MUCH faster than a PCR test taken at testing sites,…which takes about 6 hours to analyze genetic segments in lab.