Author: GIKorea

This has the potential to turn into a much larger outbreak if these people were not wearing masks and social distancing while infected:

At least 11 employees at a local fast-food franchise have tested positive for the new coronavirus, officials said Wednesday, raising concerns over a possibly bigger outbreak.

Ten employees of Lotteria were found to have had a meetiing at the franchise restaurant near Gunja subway station in the eastern Seoul ward of Gwangjin between 3:18 and 5:25 p.m. on Aug. 6, according to health authorities and the Seoul city government.

They later visited two other restaurants in the area, with nine more people joining them.

An employee who lives in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, first tested positive on Tuesday, and three others, all Seoul residents, also tested positive on the same day.

Additional infections were reported on Wednesday, bringing the number of cases to 11 as of 6 p.m.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

Here is a non-Korea stupid soldier story for everyone:

 A 19-year-old American soldier who is accused of trying to steal a taxi at Munich International Airport was thwarted by the car’s transmission, German police said.

The soldier, a member of the 2nd Cavalry Regiment based at Vilseck in Bavaria, was supposed to be flying back to the U.S. from Munich International Airport last week, regiment spokesman Maj. John Ambelang said.

Instead, he is accused of trying to take a Mercedes taxi for a spin after seeing the keys in the ignition and no one in the driver’s seat, said the Munich airport police, who are investigating the incident.

The soldier is also accused of assaulting the 50-year-old cab driver when he tried to stop him from taking the car, the police statement said.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link, but what an idiot. I will never understand what goes through people’s mind to think that while waiting for an airplane it is a good idea to go and steal a taxi cab?

I can only imagine what the call to the commander and first sergeant was like being told about this stupidity.

That is what the Korea Times is asking:

I learned something new today; I did not know that Korea had a quota on the number of students who can be trained to become a doctor:

The Moon Jae-in administration has been at odds with doctors over its healthcare reform bills that will increase the number of medical students admitted to universities and establish a state-funded medical school.

The government said July 23 that it wants to produce more doctors to broaden the reach of public health care services as the necessity for this was confirmed with the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. As soon as the plan was made public, however, doctors’ groups were up in arms immediately, vowing to go on strike.

The Korea Medical Association (KMA), the nation’s largest union for doctors, and the Korean Intern Resident Association (KIRA) announced plans to stage an all-out strike Aug. 14 to protest the reform. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link, but what is going on is that the Moon administration is trying to increase the number of doctors so there are more of them in rural areas. However, the KMA is saying the issue is not the number of doctors, but the fact that doctors flock to the Greater Seoul Metropolitan Area because of higher pay and quality of life factors.

The rain continues to fall on South Korea:

 South Korea’s annual rainy season has continued for 49 days now, the longest on record, and is poised to set a fresh record as more rains are forecast to pour down until mid-August.

The monsoon season, which has begun on June 24, tied the previous record of 49 days set in 2013, the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said, and will continue until Aug. 16 in the capital Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and western Gangwon Province.

On the southern resort island of Jeju, the rainy season lasted for 49 days from June 10 to July 28, breaking the previous record of 47 days set in 1998.

This year’s rainy season will end the latest on record, surpassing the previous record set on Aug. 10, 1987. 

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but of course global warming climate change is being blamed for the rain.

Despite the uptick in local infections, South Korea’s numbers are still incredibly low:

COVID-19 infections traced to a church have spread to Namdaemun Market, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Seoul, the health authorities said Monday. This is renewing concerns over mass infections while the number of new cases here has hovered between 20 and 43 a day, since the beginning of the month.

According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), the country added 28 new cases Sunday, bringing the total caseload to 14,626. 

Among the 28, 17 were locally transmitted infections, including 11 reported in the densely populated capital, and five in the surrounding Gyeonggi Province.  

At least nine were tied to the Namdaemun Market. 

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.