The news continues to get better out of South Korea:
Medical workers in protective suits pose for a photo at a hospital in Daegu on April 10, 2020. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s new coronavirus infections fell below 30 on Friday for the first time since Feb. 20, with the southeastern city of Daegu, once the nation’s epicenter, reporting no new cases for the first time.
The 27 new cases, detected Thursday and down from 39 a day ago, brought the nation’s total infections to 10,450, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
South Korea recorded around 50 or fewer daily new cases for a fifth day in a row, a sharp drop from the Feb. 29 peak of 909 new cases. But health authorities remain on high alert over cluster infections at churches and hospitals, as well as new cases coming from overseas.
Helicopter fighting forest fireA S-64 heavy lift helicopter of the Korea Forest Service dumps water to put out a fire near Cheongsong, 322 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on April 8, 2020, in this photo provided by the county office. The forestry service said 11 choppers and 130 firefighters were dispatched to put out the fire. (Yonhap)
Here is the latest on South Korea’s acquisition of the Global Hawk surveillance aircraft:
Two more units of the Global Hawk high-altitude unmanned aircraft are expected to arrive in South Korea this month, sources said Thursday, a move expected to further boost the country’s surveillance capabilities against North Korea and beyond.
Their planned arrival comes after South Korea brought in its first RQ-4 Block 30 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft in December last year. Under a 2011 deal, Seoul purchased four from the United States.
Air Force officers and the manufacturer, Northrop Grumman, have been working to bring in two additional units within this month, though the exact schedule is subject to change, according to the government sources. One remaining unit is also expected within the first half, they added.
You can read more at the link, but this sale has been in the works since 2003 because of the delays caused by concerns that technology and information would be leaked to North Korea. Now with the US wanting the ROK to take on more of their defense responsibilities the sale was approved and hopefully whatever concerns of technology leaks has been mitigated as well.
Another sign of improving conditions in South Korea in their fight against the coronavirus:
Hundreds of arrivals from abroad wait in a designated area for their buses sent by local government offices in Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport on Thursday. Several local government offices have offered bus rides to their constituents arriving from overseas to directly drop them off at coronavirus testing centers. [YONHAP]
New infections of the coronavirus dropped to 39 Wednesday, the lowest daily figure since cases began to soar in mid-February after a major cluster was traced to a church in Daegu.
As local health officials try to push the number down by imposing strict penalties on violators of government quarantine orders, the Ministry of Justice announced that a 40-year-old Indonesian man was slapped with a 500,000 won ($411) fine and deported from Korea Wednesday afternoon after leaving a residence and lying to officials about it.
Online classes for South Korean students began this week:
Twin sisters Park Ha-neul and Park Ga-eul, who are both seniors at middle schools, take online classes at their home in the western Seoul ward of Yangcheon on April 9, 2020. (Yonhap)
The government had postponed the new school year, which usually starts in March, by five weeks to Monday. But the plan changed as unexpected cluster infections broke out in various parts of the country.
Last week, the government announced plans to first resume online classes for seniors at middle and high schools before expanding the remote learning program to other grades.
Grades one and two at middle schools and high schools, as well as grades four to six at elementary schools, will begin the new semester next Thursday. Grades one to three at elementary schools will start taking online classes from April 20. The national college entrance exam has been pushed back by two weeks to Dec. 3.
Classes at kindergartens and child care centers have been indefinitely postponed.
Yonsei tuition refundMembers of the Yonsei University educational rights network hold a press conference at the school’s main campus in western Seoul on April 7, 2020, to demand the refund of the spring tuition fee amid class disruptions caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak. (Yonhap)
For Americans this news will not apply because the U.S. does not have a travel ban in place on South Korea. It will apply to a total of 88 countries which include Canada and Australia:
This photo captures an almost empty arrival gate at Jeju International Airport on South Korea’s southernmost island of Jeju on Feb. 5, 2020, amid the coronavirus outbreak. (Yonhap)
The government plans to bring into force a decision to temporarily suspend visa exemptions for countries imposing entry bans on South Koreans at an early date, a foreign ministry official said Wednesday.
South Korea announced earlier that it will halt visa-free entry and visa waiver programs for countries that have barred the entry of South Koreans over coronavirus concerns, a move aimed at curbing the rise in imported cases that has emerged as a key factor behind the continuing virus outbreak.
A nurse with protective gear makes preparations at Dongsan Hospital in the virus-hit city of Daegu on April 6, 2020.
South Korea’s new coronavirus cases hovered around 50 for the third straight day Wednesday, but the nation marked the grim milestone of 200 virus deaths.
Health authorities renewed calls for people to maintain social distancing to curb the spread of the virus, as cluster infections at churches and hospitals, as well as new cases coming from overseas, are still rising steadily.
The 53 new cases, detected Tuesday and up from 47 new cases a day ago, brought the nation’s total number of infections to 10,384, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
