"Patient Found Dead at Home After Testing Positive, Experienced Chest Pain"…Tough Moment Shared by Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare

Kim Kang-lip, Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, Press Corps Meeting

On the afternoon of February 28, personnel wearing protective suits are heading to work at Keimyung University Daegu Dongsan Hospital in Jung-gu, Daegu, where isolation beds for confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) have been prepared.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] "When a few people tragically passed away after being diagnosed without receiving proper treatment at hospitals and staying at home, it was the most heartbreaking and regrettable moment during the 120 days of work. When a reporter asked, 'What is the government's countermeasure?' it felt like a stab to the heart, and I experienced a lot of self-doubt and difficulty at that moment."

Kim Kang-lip, Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, pointed out this as the most regrettable point in managing the domestic novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) situation. On the 20th, about four months after the first patient was confirmed in Korea on January 20, he met with the press to share his reflections on dealing with the COVID-19 crisis and the tasks ahead. Vice Minister Kim holds a key role in the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, organized as an all-government body, and the Central Accident Management Headquarters, mainly managed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, in relation to the COVID-19 situation.

Kim Kang-rip, Vice Minister of Health and Welfare

Earlier, from late February to early March, Daegu experienced a rapid surge in COVID-19 patients within a short period, leading to a shortage of hospital beds. Hundreds of patients were diagnosed daily after testing but could not be immediately isolated or admitted. Some elderly patients died while self-isolating. When medical institutions in Daegu and Gyeongbuk were overwhelmed, the government established residential treatment centers to separately manage mild patients and evenly distribute patients. During this process, negotiations took time, and patient classification also required a certain amount of time.

Vice Minister Kim said, "When we introduced the residential treatment center model, there were voices saying, 'Why should only we, who had a concentrated outbreak, go to facilities instead of hospitals? How are we supposed to accept this?' Looking back, I think the process of persuading and negotiating with those people could have been shortened by a few days."

On April 15, when the 21st National Assembly election took place, voters are casting their precious votes at Gunja-dong 2nd polling station set up at Chevrolet Dongseoul dealership in Gwangjin-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

He highly evaluated the fact that no patients were infected during the election. Vice Minister Kim said, "Other countries canceled even small elections, and no country held nationwide elections." He added, "It was not easy to reach agreements within government ministries due to concerns about future accountability." He continued, "The related ministries, the Election Commission, and local governments worked hard, and the public cooperated well. We were anxious for about two weeks after the election, but I think it is a miracle that there were no confirmed cases due to the election."

Since hundreds of patients are still isolated and receiving treatment domestically and there is always a possibility of resurgence, Vice Minister Kim conveyed that they will refine the parts that were lacking in the process of creating and implementing countermeasures so far.

He said, "We need to establish an organizational foundation capable of rapid response with more specialized personnel and capabilities for future diseases, including strengthening community-centered care systems and reorganizing the Ministry of Health and Welfare in connection with the promotion of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to an agency." He added, "While supplementing the shortcomings felt during the COVID-19 response process, we will also pay attention to and consider COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines."

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