[COVID-19 1 Year] "We Must Stop Fluctuating with the Number of New Confirmed Cases"

Interview with Professor Kim Woo-joo of Korea University Guro Hospital

"Cannot gauge epidemic situation by confirmed cases alone"
Need mid- to long-term strategy, not mole-hunting approach
Key to ending is vaccine... Increasing burden on medical community

Professor Kim Woo-joo, Department of Infectious Diseases, Korea University Guro Hospital

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] "Now, the daily number of confirmed cases alone cannot gauge the spread of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). We must stop being swayed daily by the scale of new confirmed cases."

Professor Kim Woo-joo, an infectious disease specialist at Korea University Guro Hospital (pictured), made this assessment regarding the domestic situation in an interview with Asia Economy on the 19th, a day before the first anniversary of COVID-19 cases in Korea. Professor Kim pointed out, "We need to look closely not only at the number of confirmed cases but also at the number of tests conducted, total operating hours of screening clinics, and transmission chains of cluster infections. However, since the epidemic trend is judged solely by the daily number of patients, even a change in the leading digit creates an optical illusion that the situation is improving."

Professor Kim, the top authority in infectious diseases in Korea, has advised the government on epidemic control measures whenever infectious diseases have emerged, including serving as a government advisory member during the 2003 SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak, head of the inter-ministerial project group for novel influenza from 2010 to 2016, and co-chair of the public-private joint response team for MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) in 2015.

Amid President Moon Jae-in’s forecast at the New Year press conference the day before that "herd immunity will be fully established by November at the latest," Professor Kim emphasized the need to revise the government’s existing quarantine measures before then. He advised, "If new quarantine guidelines are announced every two weeks as now, neither quarantine nor the economy can be managed effectively. The 'whack-a-mole' style measures only lead to false hope, so fundamentally, a mid- to long-term strategy is necessary."

Professor Kim particularly stressed focusing on revising the criteria and content of the social distancing system. He said, "The extension of level 2.5 applied from the day before is, in fact, a quarantine guideline equivalent to level 2. Instead of ‘plus’ (enhanced distancing), ‘point five’ (0.5 level adjustment), or ‘alpha’ (additional measures), a completely new level should be established, and the criteria and content should be redefined."

With COVID-19 vaccinations set to begin domestically next month, Professor Kim said that while vaccines are key to ending COVID-19, he is concerned about the increased burden on the medical community. He explained, "To vaccinate the target 36 million people by November, excluding weekends, 200,000 people must be vaccinated daily, and considering two doses, effectively 400,000 vaccinations per day are required. The medical community, already exhausted from existing COVID-19 duties, must also handle vaccinations." He added, "It might be possible for a month or two, but continuing without rest for nine months is not easy. Also, the different storage methods required by manufacturers add to the burden."

Regarding the evaluation of K-quarantine, Professor Kim said, "I have always said that we must be fully prepared for the next infectious disease whenever one occurs, but each time I was criticized with remarks like ‘Why make a fuss about a disease that doesn’t even exist yet?’ The government has been responding in a reactive, patchwork manner since SARS in 2003, and politicians must take a leading role in breaking this vicious cycle," he emphasized strongly.

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