Park Won-soon "The Special Remedy is Transparency... The Government Didn't Even Provide the List of Foreigners from Wuhan"

Mayor Park Won-soon of Seoul / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Osangdo] Park Won-soon, the Mayor of Seoul, criticized the government for deliberately delaying the disclosure of the 7th confirmed case of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan Pneumonia) in Korea. Mayor Park stated, "The government did not provide the list of foreigners who entered from Wuhan," and announced that Seoul City would conduct its own comprehensive investigation.

On the 31st, during the opening remarks at the 6th Comprehensive Countermeasure Meeting held at City Hall, Mayor Park revealed, "The 7th patient, a Seoul citizen, was confirmed at 6:30 PM yesterday but was not immediately disclosed." The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced the 7th patient that morning.

Mayor Park continued, "I have always emphasized that transparency is the best remedy to control infectious diseases," and stressed, "If information is not announced and shared in real-time, it only increases public anxiety." He also pointed out, "(Such government actions) create significant problems in preventing the spread of infectious diseases, which is a matter of urgency."

Mayor Park expressed dissatisfaction that the government has yet to provide Seoul City with the list of foreigners who entered Korea from Wuhan. He said,

"It has been three days since the President ordered a full investigation both domestically and internationally, but Seoul City has not yet been notified of the list of foreigners," and added, "I hope this information will be provided soon."

Furthermore, he instructed officials, "Even if the list does not arrive, I want all places where Chinese nationals or ethnic Koreans from China might stay to be thoroughly identified through a comprehensive net-like investigation."

On the same day, Seoul City expanded the number of screening clinics from 54 to 58 and converted the general emergency room at Seoul Medical Center into a dedicated emergency room for patients showing symptoms of the novel coronavirus.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.