"Who Do You Think You Are"... District Mayor Draws Attention to Epidemiologist's Tearful Struggle

Screenshot of Kim Sam-ho, Gwangsan District Mayor's Facebook.

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] A basic local government head in Gwangju Metropolitan City is drawing attention by sharing the difficulties faced by public officials fighting on the front lines of COVID-19 quarantine with citizens.

Kim Sam-ho, mayor of Gwangsan District, posted a message titled "Appeal of Difficulties Faced by Quarantine Officials" on his online social networking service (SNS) on the 14th.

In this post, Mayor Kim conveyed the voice of an epidemiological investigator, saying, "Being cursed is a daily occurrence. Notifying COVID-19 confirmed cases is as difficult as delivering death notifications."

Mayor Kim wrote, "The hardships of epidemiological investigators who guide confirmed cases and trace their movements are increasing," adding, "The work of epidemiological investigation officials begins from around 10 to 11 p.m., when the test results of confirmed cases are notified."

He emphasized again, "Contacting confirmed cases is as difficult as notifying deaths," and explained, "Self-quarantine measures and tracing movements are urgent, but many show hostile reactions or refuse cooperation. Various insults and threats are common."

This means that many confirmed cases are uncooperative with epidemiological investigators who urgently need to obtain information such as movement paths to provide to citizens.

Mayor Kim appealed, "Most statements about confirmed cases' movements start with lies," explaining, "Fear of revealing movements they do not want to disclose and lack of awareness of the risks begin and end with lies."

To uncover the movement paths of confirmed cases, epidemiological investigators must plead repeatedly before they can obtain some information.

Mayor Kim lamented that, unlike police and other investigative agencies who are adept at handling closed-circuit television (CCTV), it takes a lot of time to identify the identity of confirmed cases.

He said, "Confirming confirmed cases by watching CCTV footage is a difficult task even for most investigative agencies," and confessed, "Moreover, the uncooperative attitude of the institutions owning the CCTV is beyond words."

He also pointed out that when confirmed cases occur in large enterprises (factory facilities), differences in positions between the company and the labor union delay epidemiological investigations.

Mayor Kim said, "The company demands minimizing self-quarantine, while the labor union demands expanding self-quarantine for employee safety, requiring a high level of balance."

Mayor Kim appealed, "Our society has the responsibility to protect epidemiological investigation officials who work for the public good," adding, "The pain and stress they express are warning signs that undermine thorough quarantine. We all must protect them."

Many comments were posted on Mayor Kim’s post, such as "Without the chief’s story about their hard work and difficulties, we wouldn’t know," "Mayor Kim, you are working hard. Please take good care of your health," and "Deep gratitude for the hard work of epidemiological investigation officials."

A Gwangsan District official said, "It is encouraging that the mayor listens to the staff’s difficulties and understands their hardships," and added, "Even though the COVID-19 situation is tough, we will regain our initial resolve and jump into the quarantine front line."

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