SEOUL (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 04th September, 2020) South Korean medical workers have ended two weeks of strikes and hospital walkouts after an agreement with the government and the ruling party was reached over contentious reform plans, media reported Friday.
According to state news agency Yonhap, talks between the Korean Medical Association (KMA) and health authorities resulted in a suspension of a scheme to reform the medical education system in exchange for a return to work of thousands of junior doctors.
Desperate to have all hands on deck amid a second wave of COVID-19 infections, the government agreed to review all five points of a reform plan that seeks to increase admission quotas to medical schools and introduce elements of traditional medicine into curriculums.
The protests began with fellows and interns in mid-August but quickly gained support among practicing KMA doctors, surgeons and professors, who staged a three-day strike between August 26 and 29.
After managing to quell an initial wave of COVID-19 infections in February and March - the first outbreak outside China - the number of cases shot up again in August, forcing the government to play catchup with partial lockdowns and increased mitigation measures. The number of new cases fell below 200 for a second day running but the number of critically ill patients has hit a new high, according to the� Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The country's total number of cases now stands at 20,842 with 331 fatalities.
