Ministry of Economy and Finance Holds Future Strategy Forum... Discusses COVID-19 Status and Response Achievements

[Asia Economy Reporter Jang Sehee] The Ministry of Economy and Finance announced on the 4th that it held the '2020 2nd Future Strategy Forum' to share the United Kingdom's response cases to the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and discuss future tasks in the domestic health and social sectors.

Professor Azim Majid from Imperial College London, Professor Kwon Soonman from Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health, and Professor Kim Seokho from Seoul National University Department of Sociology delivered presentations. The forum was held in the video conference room on the 6th floor of the Korea Development Institute (KDI) and was conducted in a hybrid format of in-person and online participation.

Professor Azim Majid gave a presentation on the topic of 'COVID-19 in the United Kingdom.' He also explained the current status of COVID-19 in the UK, along with the major achievements and limitations of the response so far.

In particular, he evaluated differences from Korea, such as dispersed leadership due to unclear responsibility among government organizations, limitations in contact tracing and non-compliance with quarantine measures, delays in policy implementation like mask-wearing, and the fact that mask-wearing is not mandatory.

He also anticipated that European countries including the UK, facing a dual burden due to the increase of seasonal risk factors, would inevitably have to repeat lockdowns until widespread vaccination is implemented.

Professor Kwon Soonman presented on the topic of 'The Future of Quarantine and Health Policies in the Era of COVID-19 Daily Life,' emphasizing the need for a comprehensive perspective that goes beyond the conflicting relationships among quarantine, healthcare, economic, and social policies.

As directions for future quarantine and health policies, he suggested focused management of high-risk facilities and groups based on risk assessment, policy formulation based on the number of severe patients rather than confirmed cases, consideration of policy compliance, and establishment of institutional measures to expand social safety nets.

Professor Kwon emphasized, "When preparing COVID-19 response policies, social consensus through participation and public discussion is necessary." He added, "It is essential to produce scientific evidence on the characteristics of disease outbreaks and the costs and benefits of policies," and "Prioritization should be decided through gathering opinions."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy and Finance plans to utilize the discussions from this forum when establishing related future measures.

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