• Health Policy and Management
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.330-333
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• 2022

Korea's quarantine response to the novel coronavirus (coronavirus disease 2019 [COVID-19]) pandemic is based on the sacrifice of health professionals, especially public health doctors (PHDs) who were called out first and put in the first place in the country. PHDs performed major quarantine tasks, such as collecting samples from screening clinics and epidemiological investigations, in various parts of the country, including the Daegu area, where the first large-scale COVID-19 confirmed cases in Korea and explosively increased. Because of their position as fixed-term civil servants, however, PHDs' professionalism as doctors was ignored, and they were not properly compensated for their work. They were also exposed to problems such as a high risk of infection, mental suffering, and various human rights violations. We must prepare concrete measures to improve the fundamental treatment of PHDs and protect their human rights in order to prepare for a possible infectious disease pandemic in the future.

• Food Science and Industry
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.244-263
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• 2022

Coronavirus, known as one of the causes of colds including mild upper respiratory tract disease in humans, has mutated into the infectious severe disease, COVID-19 through SARS and MERS. The mortality and symptoms of COVID-19 are related to the ability to regulate innate immunity, which acts as the first barrier against microorganisms and viruses. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for food that helps to strengthen immunity is rapidly increasing. Functional foods promote general health and alleviate the risk of disease symptoms by activating multiple biological functions. A recent, there is an interest in discovering functional substances that can induce enhancement of immunity and prevent viral infection as well as relieve disease symptoms. Therefore, this article focus to understand the concept of immune response and highlights the recent status of functional foods and research trends that can help prevent and treat viral infections by inducing the enhancement of immune function.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.241-243
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• 2021

With the increase in vaccinations worldwide, the world is facing the era of coexisting with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The government announced that it will change its focus of public health emergency response system, gradually toward daily recovery from November. Hence, this article reviews an overview of policy tasks to prepare for the era of coexistence with COVID-19. The three key policies that should be considered are as follow: (1) vaccination should be administered promptly to improve the immunity of the target population; (2) the government should advance the medical capability for critically ill patients and reorganize the patient delivery system; and (3) epidemiological surveillance system should be reformed in a direction to raise the social capacity.

• Journal of Labour Economics
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• v.44 no.1
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• pp.135-167
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• 2021

This paper studies how households who received Covid-19 transfers in cash used their one-time transfers. The transfers were paid in cash for welfare recipient households, which accounted for 12.9% of all households. Using a survey data, it is found that the cash transfers are mostly used for consumption expenditure, and 21.7 percent of the cash transfer used are spent on additional consumption not originally planned. The consumption response to cash transfers is greater in households that experienced job or income loss because of Covid-19.

• Journal of Sasang Constitutional Medicine
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.42-54
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• 2023

Objectives This study aims to identify differences in clinical manifestations of COVID-19 between different Sasang constitution. Methods Subjects were recruited from August 29, 2022, to July 11, 2023. COVID-19 clinical symptoms were self-reported via questionnaires. Sasang constitutional diagnosis was performed using the K-PRISM, and Sasang constitutional specialist. Results A total of 66 subjects were recruited for the study, and the Sasang constitutional distribution of the subjects was 19 soyangin, 25 taeeumin, and 22 soeumin. For most of the COVID-19 clinical manifestations, the study found that soyangin experienced symptoms at a higher rate than other constitutions. Among the symptoms observed in the study, sore throat, pantalgia, and cough were severe in all subjects regardless of constitution. Soeumin was more likely to experience abdominal pain, chest pain, and diarrhea, while soyangin was more likely to experience chest pain, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, and cutaneous symptoms compared to other constitutions. Taeeumin had more sputm, nasal congestion, and skin symptoms, but fewer digestive symptoms. There were differences in the onset and duration of symptoms by constitution. Conclusions This study is an important contribution to our understanding of the differences in response to the COVID-19 virus among different Sasang constitutions. Symptomatic differences between constitutions may have important implications for prevention and treatment strategies for infectious diseases, and personalized treatment and management based on these differences may be needed in the future.

• Journal of Korea Port Economic Association
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.19-31
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• 2021

This study is aming at analysing the current trend of container shipping industry before and after COVID-19 Pandemic circumstances. Also, this study offers the political implications for 'the Korean Shipping Nation Rebuilding'. As a result of this study, the several global shipping lines have decreased their ship capacity in response to International Maritime Organization(IMO)'s environmental regulation. This finding is differ from the media reports, that is many shipping companies increased idling vessel to match the lower demand induced COVID-19 pandemic. This study also provides the two implications of the direction about Korean shipping policy. The first one is that the casual relationship of over-vessels' supply and Korea shipping policy is needed to be thoroughly analyzed. The importance of Koreans shipping industry is generally devaluated by most citizens so as to the Korean government should develop the mass media contents to enlighten the less wellknown people regarding shipping industry.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.49-60
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• 2022

This study attempted to provide the basic data for developing a system to identify the role of medical technologists and ensure an efficient response for quick and accurate diagnostic tests in the COVID-19 era. The research method involved using focus group interviews for a survey and analysis of 15 medical institutions. Eleven sample collection institutions, 10.4 medical technologists, 2.1 minutes of collection time, 5.4 hours of test time, 9,670 tests, 6.2 member test workforce size, and 7 screening center operating institutions were surveyed. The results of the focus group interview analysis revealed that there were no standardized guidelines covering working hours, area, and environment to protect sample collectors and testers in relation to the COVID-19 tests. Also, legal protection measures were insufficient in the event of accidental infections and there were no personnel regulations related to COVID-19. In addition, the professional training of sample collectors and molecular diagnostic testers was required for reliable COVID-19 testing. In conclusion, it is necessary to provide professional education through special test short-term training institutions to cope with emergency infectious diseases such as COVID-19. Legal systems should be put in place to protect the workforce and ensure stability.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.244-254
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• 2021

The management of emerging infectious diseases cannot help but completely depend on non-pharmaceutical interventions in the early stages of the outbreak. Consequently, South Korea has developed and implemented the 3T (test-trace-treat) models, non-pharmaceutical infection prevention and control (IPC) measures, in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The IPC measures have gained global attention, rendering them to be essential in the development of a shareable, reusable, and applicable protocol for future pandemics. This study was conducted to identify the requirements necessary for standardizing the IPC measures. Three new work items of the 18 3T models were proposed to ISO/TC 304 (International Organization for Standardization/Technical Committee 304; healthcare organization management). Requirements for each IPC measure, identified by participating members (P-members) countries during the ISO ballots, were analyzed in this study. The three new work items were approved by the P-members countries after a 3-month ballot. There was a consensus that the three IPC measure models should be International Standards (IS). Other comments include (1) the models should include not only COVID-19 but also any respiratory pandemic; and (2) keep donning of level D protection at screening sites as an optional protocol, in consideration for the lack of personal protective equipment. Standardization is a systematic process of developing internationally agreed-upon wisdom and knowledge that consider and respect the diversity and universality of each country. It is expected that such standardized applicable IPC measure models contribute to global efforts to rapidly respond to a public health emergency of international concern during its early stages.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.231-249
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• 2021

The need for the development of practical manuals for responding to disasters in public libraries has emerged after COVID-19 was confirmed in Korea in January 2020. The library is a social organization directed affected by COVID-19. Therefore, a reasonable and consistent disaster response manual should be developed and used as a guideline for responding to disasters at the library sites. This study aims to derive implications by examining the current situation of public library manuals for both domestic and international. Furthermore, the responses of overseas libraries experiencing major disasters were analyzed and issued to reflect the current domestic situation. As a result of the study, it was suggested that the library's role as a social organization for disaster response should be enhanced, and that disaster experience needs to be implemented, as guidelines, toolkits, and archive.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.337-347
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• 2022

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is currently a pandemic caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). COVID-19 are directly associated with hyper-activation of innate immune response that excessively produce pro-inflammatory cytokines and induce cytokine storm, leading to multi-organ-failure and significant morbidity/mortality. Currently, several antiviral drugs such as Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir) and molnupiravir are authorized to treat mild to moderate COVID-19, however, there are still no drugs that can specifically fight against challenges of SARS-CoV-2 variants. Panax ginseng, a medicinal plant widely used for treating various conditions, might be appropriate for this need due to its anti-inflammatory/cytokine/viral activities, fewer side effects, and cost efficiency. To review Panax ginseng and its pharmacologically active-ingredients as potential phytopharmaceuticals for treating cytokine storm of COVID-19, articles that reporting its positive effects on the cytokine production were searched from academic databases. Experimental/clinical evidences for the effectiveness of Panax ginseng and its active-ingredients in preventing or mitigating cytokine storm, especially for the cascade of cytokine storm, suggest that they might be beneficial as an adjunct treatment for cytokine storm of COVID-19. This review may provide a new approach to discover specific medications using Panax ginseng to control cytokine storm of COVID-19.