S. Korea, WHO to cooperate on COVID-19 research work

SEOUL, March 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's health authorities said Wednesday that they will work together with the World Health Organization (WHO) on clinical research on the novel coronavirus that has hit most countries around the world. The pandemic, first reported in Wuhan, China, late last year, is spreading quickly in places like Europe, with the death toll in many countries ranging in the thousands. According to the health ministry here, WHO officials will join the working-level COVID-19 clinical research project headed by the state-run National Institute of Health (NIH) and local medical experts. "Cooperation is expected to take place in areas of data collection and analysis as well as information use," the ministry said. The WHO is interested in patients' response to various exploratory treatments, characteristics of critical cases that have resulted in death and features of the virus that have been identified by medical personnel here while treating people. The WHO has been in talks for research efforts with many countries as it tries to help health authorities better handle the pandemic. yonngong@yna.co.kr (END)