'You Want Me to Do an Epidemiological Investigation When We Can't Even Communicate?' ... The 'Blind Spot' in Quarantine Management for Foreigners

Health Center, "Language Communication Difficulties with Foreigners Are the Biggest Challenge"
Expert, "Sharing Data and Information Related to Foreigners Is More Important Than Anything Else"

COVID-19 Testing at Jin-gwan Industrial Complex, Namyangju [Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Recently, frontline public health center staff conducting preemptive specimen testing and epidemiological investigations due to successive COVID-19 cluster infections among foreign workers have been facing significant difficulties in communicating with foreign workers. However, there are ongoing criticisms that the government and local governments have not presented proper countermeasures.

According to Gyeonggi Province, as of the 9th of this year, among the 10,428 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province, 1,466 (14.1%) were foreigners, approximately double the 7.7% recorded last year.

In particular, since most foreign confirmed cases were found to have lived in dormitories, the province issued an administrative order requiring foreign workers and employers to undergo preemptive COVID-19 testing to prevent the spread of the fourth wave.

Lim Seung-kwan, head of Gyeonggi Province's COVID-19 Emergency Response Team, stated on the 9th, "Tasks remain such as identifying contacts through epidemiological investigations after diagnostic testing, safely isolating them in appropriate accommodations, and allocating beds in living treatment centers or medical institutions."

Earlier, in January, Gyeonggi Province launched an 'Interpretation Volunteer Group' for epidemiological investigations of foreign residents and workers in the province, pledging to "resolve language communication issues at quarantine sites."

However, according to our investigation, interpretation support for public health centers has been scarce, and even the support for epidemiological investigations has not been provided in a timely manner.

Frontline public health center staff cited language communication problems with foreign workers as their greatest inconvenience.

An employee A at a public health center in northern Gyeonggi said, "The biggest difficulty is that conversations do not go through. We receive help from the interpretation call center, but only a limited number of personnel come to provide support."

Another employee B pointed out, "Even when trying to convey basic quarantine-related information, untrained foreigners are more vulnerable to cluster infections due to language communication issues."

In response, a provincial official explained in a phone interview with us, "The Infectious Disease Management Support Team provides interpretation support, but due to a shortage of personnel, it is limited to places where epidemiological investigations are necessary."

There is another problem. Even when cluster infections among foreigners occur, aside from instructions to follow the central government's (Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters) policy, specific guidelines or information sharing are not properly conducted.

Another public health center employee C pointed out, "In the case of undocumented foreigners, there is no basic information or data, which creates many gaps in quarantine management."

Public health center staff unanimously stated, "We follow the directives of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters and are busy reporting every situation. There are limits to what public health centers or entrusted agencies can judge and handle."

A public official who went out to support quarantine said, "The current level is barely what we have managed to establish after about a year of trial and error."

Medical experts pointed out, "Preemptive testing and epidemiological investigations determine the success or failure of quarantine," adding, "Especially since these tasks are at a much higher level than just testing for confirmation, data and information sharing regarding foreigners is of utmost importance."

They warned that if the various problems identified through preemptive testing and epidemiological investigations are not analyzed and handled with effective and practical manuals, it is highly likely to lead to local spread.

Additionally, concerns were raised that "While registered foreigners can be checked for testing status, quarantine management of undocumented foreigners is not easy."

Although the government issued administrative orders stating "no disadvantages will be imposed," undocumented foreigners fear that if they test positive, they will face burdens such as treatment costs and forced deportation, leading them to hide and become even harder to find.

With unprecedented quarantine work and epidemiological investigations underway, and since the 26th of last month, public health center staff in local governments have been enduring triple hardships including vaccine administration, but due to insufficient government measures, blind spots remain in quarantine management of foreigners.

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