Finding Severe Patients, Selecting Vaccine Substances... Korea's AI-Based COVID-19 Response Methods Revealed

Minister of Health and Welfare Park Neung-hoo is speaking at a video conference with health ministers from 12 countries on the 9th.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Our health authorities have actively utilized artificial intelligence (AI) technology in the process of treating or conducting epidemiological investigations of COVID-19 patients and shared this fact with major countries including the United States.

On the 9th (Korean time), Park Neung-hoo, Minister of Health and Welfare, attended a meeting chaired by Matt Hancock, UK Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, and informed about the use of digital technology in the COVID-19 response process. Minister Park revealed that AI-based technology was used to interpret chest X-rays and computed tomography (CT) scans to quickly classify severe patients, enabling appropriate allocation of medical resources where needed.

Although many COVID-19 patients experience mild symptoms, severe patients have a high risk of fatality if not given intensive care early on. Since medical resources such as hospital beds and medical staff are limited, it is necessary to classify patients according to severity and provide timely appropriate treatment. In the case of COVID-19, it is known that patients may not feel symptoms even when pneumonia has progressed, so there are limitations in treatment based solely on outward symptoms.

Additionally, Minister Park introduced that a digital technology-integrated epidemiological investigation support system is being operated to conduct epidemiological investigations more quickly and accurately after confirming positive cases. This system analyzes data in real time to track the movement paths of confirmed patients and identifies transmission routes or high-risk areas through spatiotemporal analysis of confirmed patients’ trajectories.

AI was also utilized to analyze data in the process of finding promising candidate substances necessary for the development of treatments and vaccines. Furthermore, Minister Park reported at the meeting that digital technologies were extensively used in self-diagnosis applications, emergency disaster text messages, mask information websites, and inter-ministerial video conferences.

The meeting was attended by health ministers and vice ministers from 12 countries, including Alex Azar, US Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Gato Katsunobu, Japan’s Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. Minister Matt Hancock expressed gratitude for the sharing of experiences and information among countries including Korea and hoped for continued concrete discussions and cooperation.

Minister Park said, "I hope this will be an opportunity to unite with a spirit of mutual trust and inclusion not only in digital technology but also in various fields," adding, "Only global solidarity and cooperation can greatly expand hope in the post-COVID era."

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