"Social Distancing: Vulnerable Industries, Students, and Low-Income Groups Bear Greater Costs"

Health Authorities Hold Expert Forum Ahead of Social Distancing Revision
Public Fatigue Increases and Acceptance Decreases Due to Prolonged Social Distancing
"Costs of Social Distancing Are Invisible but It Continues for a Long Time," Experts Agree

On the 19th, when in-person classes for kindergarten, elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide were expanded following the adjustment to Level 1 social distancing, children at Munbaek Elementary School in Geumcheon-gu, Seoul, were sanitizing their hands as they attended school. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] There have been calls for a more detailed approach to social distancing measures by considering the characteristics of each industry and residential environment to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). As the COVID-19 crisis has prolonged and fatigue has increased, there is a clear tendency for people to adhere less strictly to distancing measures than before. To enhance the effectiveness of quarantine while reducing social costs, there is a need to comprehensively revise the current distancing measures.

At the 'Mid-term Evaluation and Long-term Preparedness Public Forum on COVID-19 Response' hosted by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 27th, experts presenting on various topics pointed out these issues. Professor Kwon Soon-man of Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health said regarding the distancing measures implemented by authorities so far, "Uniform policies targeting the entire population have low acceptability and high social costs." Joo Young-soo, Director of Planning and Coordination at the National Medical Center, commented, "Social distancing beyond level 2 is ineffective," and added, "Quarantine policies need to be simply and effectively reorganized."

On the 26th, when the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 rose to triple digits again after three days with 119 cases, citizens were waiting for testing at the screening clinic of the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Social distancing is the most basic quarantine measure and has been emphasized by health authorities since the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. Previously, the measures were named according to the epidemic situation as 'intense' or 'relaxed,' but since June, they have been applied in three levels from 1 to 3. While voluntary public participation led to significant distancing effects during times of high concern about COVID-19, recently, there has been widespread opinion that adherence has somewhat dulled.

Although social distancing is considered a fundamental measure to block infection spread at its source, its sustainability is low due to the 'invisible' costs involved. These include worsening mental health such as depression, neglect of non-infectious diseases, economic downturn especially among frontline self-employed workers in retail and service sectors, and reduced caregiving functions for students and vulnerable groups.

Professor Kwon said, "Strong distancing can reduce the number of infections, but it depresses the economy through unemployment and business closures, which in the long term worsens public health." He added, "Policies should be adjusted based on empirical evidence of the impact on high-risk facilities and populations as well as socioeconomic effects, rather than uniform distancing."

Kim Kang-rip, the chief spokesperson of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCHQ), is delivering a greeting at the forum on the interim evaluation of the response to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) and preparation for prolonged measures, held on the morning of the 27th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul.

'Mild patients treated at home' to secure capacity for critical care
Increase use of clinical and epidemiological data... Proposal to introduce rapid antigen tests

There were also suggestions to increase dedicated beds for severe patients while treating mild patients at home and discharging hospitalized mild patients early to concentrate medical resources on critical care. Although there is currently some bed availability, it is necessary to secure more capacity than the current level in preparation for any future resurgence. Director Joo proposed, "The number of beds for severe patients should be increased from the current 140 to at least 300-400," and added, "Tertiary hospitals should be required to develop and operate training programs for critical care nurses."

There was also a proposal to conduct regular diagnostic testing through group testing at high-risk facilities, as was recently done with comprehensive testing of workers at nursing hospitals and facilities in the metropolitan area. Since asymptomatic or so-called 'silent transmission' cases have increased recently, the approach of tracing patients or contacts after symptoms such as fever or cough appear is inevitably delayed. Kim Dong-hyun, President of the Korean Society of Epidemiology, said, "A separate analysis team should be formed to digitize existing epidemiological and clinical data, and a surveillance system should be established to proactively detect cases using administrative data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service."

Additionally, the forum proposed considering the introduction of testing methods such as antigen tests, which, although somewhat less accurate than the current polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests, can be quickly performed at frontline medical institutions. Another suggestion was to subdivide the operation of residential treatment centers to enable primary medical care-level treatment. The government said it would discuss the proposals with experts and reflect them in future revisions of quarantine and medical systems.

Kim Kang-rip, Chief Spokesperson of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said, "As we must now prepare for a long-term battle with COVID-19, we should aim for more sustainable and effective quarantine measures." He added, "Quarantine, medical care, and social sector responses are organically connected, and only by comprehensively reviewing all areas can we establish a sustainable long-term response system."

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