COVID-19 Pandemic Declaration... Will Treatment Drug Administration Criteria Be Relaxed?

South Korean Quarantine Authorities Practically Implementing All Measures
Experts Mention Possibility of Introduction

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), is attending a press briefing at the WHO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on the 11th (local time). During the briefing, he declared the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) a pandemic.

[Asia Economy Reporters Choi Dae-yeol, Jo Hyun-ui] Attention is focused on additional measures by South Korea's quarantine authorities following the World Health Organization (WHO)'s declaration of a pandemic for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). The quarantine authorities are considering additional options as they are practically implementing all measures including blocking community spread, preventing overseas inflow, and minimizing damage. Experts see the possibility of easing treatment drug administration criteria being introduced.

According to the quarantine authorities on the 12th, the pandemic declaration is an assessment that a new disease is spreading worldwide and does not have specific binding force. However, since the declaration itself is symbolic, global anxiety inevitably increases. For this reason, WHO has been criticized for hesitating to declare a pandemic and thereby escalating the situation.

Even though WHO has declared a pandemic, its recommendations to each country do not change significantly immediately. WHO plays a role in sharing information and making recommendations or suggestions on international health issues. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus emphasized that "the course of the pandemic can still be changed" and only urged countries to respond actively. Jeon Byung-yul, professor at CHA University Graduate School of Medicine and former head of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, said on the 12th, "The crisis alert has already been raised to the 'serious' level and all measures are being taken," adding, "(Our authorities') response plan will not change significantly." Eom Jung-sik, professor of infectious diseases at Gachon University Gil Medical Center, diagnosed, "In Korea, all possible responses are being implemented as explosive outbreaks occur in specific groups."

However, generally, WHO's recommendations or suggestions tend to be accepted by major countries according to their situations, and since the number of patients, which initially increased mainly in China and South Korea, has spiked sporadically worldwide including Europe and the United States, the sense of crisis has intensified, making it highly likely that stronger measures will follow. Italy, which surpassed 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in less than a month, imposed nationwide movement restrictions even before WHO's declaration. Earlier, at the end of January when cases surged rapidly in China, WHO declared an international public health emergency but did not recommend travel or trade restrictions; this time, the absence of such 'addenda' is also noteworthy. WHO has emphasized that travel and trade restrictions are not effective in responding to the COVID-19 situation.

The major concern about COVID-19 is that there are no 'weapons' to fight the infectious disease, namely treatments or vaccines, prepared. During the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, active responses were possible domestically and internationally, such as lowering the administration criteria for antiviral drugs like Tamiflu. Vaccines for prevention were also supplied shortly thereafter. The quarantine authorities have been stockpiling various antiviral drugs used in treating COVID-19 patients domestically and abroad, and are reviewing whether newly developed drugs originally for Ebola treatment can be used, but the commercialization prospects remain uncertain. WHO predicted last month that vaccine development would take about 18 months.

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