"Asymptomatic Infected Individuals Exceed Patients by Over 10 Times... Need to Set Goals to Minimize Human Casualties"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Saehye] Experts have predicted that the number of asymptomatic infections of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in South Korea could be more than ten times the number of currently identified patients.

On the 21st, Oh Myung-don, chairman of the Central Clinical Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases, stated at a press conference held at the National Medical Center, "COVID-19 spreads easily even during everyday conversations, so there are likely many people infected without knowing it."

Chairman Oh said, "The way to determine how many asymptomatic infections there are is through antibody positivity rate surveys (antibody tests)," adding, "Based on overseas cases, it is estimated that the number of asymptomatic infections could be ten times the number of currently identified patients."

According to the Central Clinical Committee, the Spanish government conducted antibody tests for COVID-19 on 60,000 people at the end of April, revealing an antibody positivity rate of 5%. This means that approximately 2.25 million people out of Spain's 45 million population were infected, which is ten times the 230,000 patients identified by the Spanish government.

Results from antibody tests conducted in at least 23 regions showed a COVID-19 antibody positivity rate of 47.0% in Brooklyn, New York, about 10% in Wuhan, China, and around 1% among some healthy blood donors.

Professor Oh stated, "Because the number of asymptomatic infections is more than ten times higher, it is natural for 'silent infections' and 'Nth transmission' to occur as the virus spreads in daily life," adding, "If we do not know the scale of these asymptomatic infections, current quarantine measures such as early diagnosis, contact tracing, and isolation cannot completely control the spread."

He continued, "Antibody testing is a means to assess how far the COVID-19 outbreak has progressed in our country," and "Knowing the antibody positivity rate allows us to establish appropriate quarantine measures based on our current situation."

He also clarified that the goal of South Korea's COVID-19 quarantine measures is not simply 'eradication,' and that the response should differ from that for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS).

Professor Oh said, "The ultimate goal of quarantine measures is not the eradication of COVID-19 but to slow the spread and transmission so that the number of patients remains at a level manageable by our healthcare system," emphasizing, "We must set realistic goals to minimize casualties." He added, "In the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, applying the MERS quarantine manual as is led to the hospitalization of healthy positive patients who did not require inpatient treatment, causing those who actually needed hospitalization to wait and lose their lives," stressing, "We must not repeat such tragic experiences."

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