COVID Raises Its Ugly Head Again chosun.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chosun.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
An indoor mask mandate, which has been in place for two years and three months in Korea, will end from 12:00 a.m., Jan. 30, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Friday. But the authorities stressed that people will still be required to wear masks at high-risk facilities such as hospitals and on public transport.The announcement, which comes after three years since Korea confirmed its first case of the coronavirus, represents a major milestone in the government s shift in its pandemic response to living with the virus.
Cities across China scrambled to install hospital beds and build fever screening clinics on Tuesday as the United States said Beijing s surprise decision to let the virus run free .
There is a 50 percent chance that humanity will face another pandemic within 20 years, according to Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The unprecedented COVID-19 crisis that has devastated the world may be beginning to ease. However, humanity still lives close to wildlife that could host pathogens of future pandemics helped along by climate change, population growth and deforestation.
Korea is facing a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections, but it may be less severe than previous ones due to the build-up of immunity from prior infections and vaccinations, according to medical experts. The experts anticipate the newly emerging Omicron variants BQ.1 and offspring BQ 1.1 - also known as Typhon and Cerberus respectively - to lead the upcoming seventh wave, replacing parent variant BA.5.