S. Korea to introduce faster way to detect coronavirus after 16th confirmed case

코로나바이러스 16번째 확진자 발생...정부 "진단시약 긴급승인"

We have confirmation of another novel coronavirus patient in the nation...bringing the total to 16.
In order to prevent further spread of the disease,...health authorities approved a faster method to detect infection.
Kan Hyeong-woo has our top story.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed a 16th coronavirus case in South Korea on Tuesday.
The patient is a 42-year-old Korean woman who returned to the country on January 19th from a trip to Thailand.
The patient is known to have visited Bangkok and Pattaya during her trip to the southeast Asian country.
Although she showed no symptoms upon her arrival in South Korea,.. the patient later began to feel fever-like chills on January 25th.
On February 4th she tested positive for the coronavirus at the Chonnam National University Hospital in Gwangju...where she remains in quarantine.
Health authorities are trying to figure out how she was exposed to the virus, where she went and who she has been in contact with.
"We are disclosing the movements of the confirmed patients to let the citizens know whether they could've been exposed to the virus. So they can watch their status more closely and quickly take the necessary steps if any symptoms are found."
In order to prevent further spread of the virus,...the Korean government has approved the use of a faster way to detect the coronavirus.
The current method requires a 24-hour, 2-step process to determine infection.
But the new diagnostic test kit, named 'Real Time-PCR', can determine whether a person has the virus in only 6 hours.
It was developed and produced by Seoul-based company Kogene Biotech.
Starting Friday,...the government plans to provide the new diagnostic test kit to 50 medical institutions across the nation.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it expects the latest measure to strengthen monitoring ability.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News.

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