WHO: "Han COVID-19 Research Established Global Response"

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. Source=Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] The World Health Organization (WHO) will join a novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) study led by domestic researchers starting from the 18th. WHO expressed its intention to participate first, and the government accepted it. This is analyzed as a judgment that domestic research will help countries worldwide establish response strategies amid the realization of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, a preparatory meeting for a prospective cohort study led by domestic experts regarding COVID-19 will be held this afternoon at the National Medical Center in Seoul, China. This meeting, hosted by the National Medical Center, will be attended by domestic experts, research participants, WHO clinical teams, and COVID-19 advisory committee members.

The study will be conducted by collecting patient specimens hourly and analyzing immunological and serological characteristics. WHO proposed research examining the amount and presence of the virus, as well as the timing of symptom onset and disappearance, through four types of specimens: blood, urine, feces, and respiratory samples. The final research plan will be determined by the domestic research team.

The government views WHO’s request as a cooperation effort to create COVID-19 response guidelines. Kwon Jun-wook, Deputy Director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, explained, "We accepted WHO’s proposal from the perspective of helping global COVID-19 prevention," adding, "Since it is a novel infectious disease, learning from other countries’ experiences and flexibly responding by modifying measures accordingly is essentially what each country’s disease control agencies are currently doing."

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