The photo on the left shows Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on Jan. 20 speaking to the media when the nation confirmed its first COVID-19 patient, and the one on the right is her at a media briefing on Feb. 26.
By Song Baleun and Lee Jihae
Photos = Yonhap News
With the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country exceeding 1,000 on Feb. 26, the government and medical authorities are exerting all-out efforts to curb the outbreak.
Among the figures carrying on this fight is Jeong Eun-kyeong, director of the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC).
From Jan. 20, when the nation's first COVID-19 patient was reported, Jeong has held a briefing every day at 2 p.m., with her face growing more emaciated by the day. When she held on Feb. 24 a regular briefing of the KCDC's Central Epidemic Control Countermeasure Headquarters, her face had grown clearly more gaunt and her hair whiter.
When asked by reporters about her health, she said, "The Central Epidemic Control Countermeasures Headquarters has a heavy work burden, but we're managing it well."
The director and the organization have been on emergency duty for a month since the onset of the COVID-19 outbreak in Korea. They have received a flood of messages of support online.
A staff member at Keimyung University's Daegu Dongsan Hospital in Daegu on Jan. 23 takes a short break.
The nation's medical staff are concentrated in Daegu, which has the highest number of COVID-19 cases of any region in the country.
According to the headquarters, the government posted on Feb. 24 a recruiting ad for additional medical personnel for dispatch to Daegu. Within two days, 205 staff -- 11 doctors, 100 nurses, 32 nurse's aides, 22 medical technologists and 40 administrative personnel -- volunteered to work in the southeastern city.
President Moon Jae-in on Feb. 25 visited Daegu, where he said, "With Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do Province, we will win the fight against COVID-19 for sure."
The National 119 Rescue Headquarters is sending ambulances from cities and provinces nationwide to Daegu and vicinity to help COVID-19 patients.
