Covid-19 in South Korea

Young-rae Son

Inserted 2 years ago

“The previous scheme is no longer realistic in light of our limited resources, and takes massive social and economic costs compared with our medical needs. The goal of our new Omicron response system is to minimise serious cases and deaths by focusing on diagnosing and treating high risk groups, and to prevent the saturation and collapse of our medical capacity.”

Reuters

South Korea health ministry spokesman

09 Feb 2022 3 3

Kim Woo-joo

Inserted 2 years ago

“The effect of the measures will be small. They won't drastically slow down the spread until the year-end. Things may get worse given the cold winter weather and the increasing cases of the Omicron variant.”

Koreatimes

Infectious disease specialist at Korea University Guro Hospital

16 Dec 2021 3 4

Moon Jae-in

Inserted 2 years ago

“The government has failed to curb the surge in critically ill patients and secure enough hospital beds during the phased return to normalcy.”

Koreatimes

President of South Korea

16 Dec 2021 3 3

Jung Jae-hun

Inserted 2 years ago

“The government seems to be not fully aware of the current situation. This is not a good time to consider any return to the normalcy scheme at all, but a time to come up with stronger quarantine measures.”

Koreatimes

Assistant professor at Gachon University's preventive medicine department

08 Dec 2021 2 2

Kim Woo-joo

Inserted 2 years ago

“This virus spreading will continue for a while as the effectiveness of the vaccinations in the elderly decreases, and secondary infections will also increase through home treatment.”

Koreatimes

Professor of infectious diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital

08 Dec 2021 4 2

Moon Jae-in

Inserted 2 years ago

“We've overcome crises multiple times so far, but we are now having another crisis as another level. The number of new patients, critical patients and deaths are all increasing, and we are running short of hospital beds. If we fail to overcome this crisis, our attempt to return to normality may gradually fail. We need more vigilance and a united response more than ever. The urgent task is to have people get their third shots as soon as possible. We need to change the perception that the third shot is additional, to making it basic, and getting this third shot constitutes full vaccination.”

Koreatimes

President of South Korea

29 Nov 2021 7 3

Lee Jae-gab

Inserted 2 years ago

“The efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines for the elderly has been reduced due to the emergence of the more virulent and aggressive Delta variant. Neither the government nor medical experts expected critical cases to increase so quickly.”

Koreatimes

Professor of infectious diseases at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital

26 Nov 2021 6 4

Kim Boo-kyum

Inserted 2 years ago

“We are in the fourth week after adopting the gradual return to normalcy plan. It is now time to make a decision on whether to move on to the next stage, but the situation is much more serious than expected.”

Koreatimes

Prime Minister of South Korea

24 Nov 2021 2 1

Kim Boo-kyum

Inserted 2 years ago

“There are concerns that our journey to return to normalcy could stop for a while if this crisis cannot be overcome. We will improve our hospital bed management system.”

Koreaherald

Prime Minister of South Korea

19 Nov 2021 3 2

Kim Woo-joo

Inserted 2 years ago

“It does not seem appropriate to go onto the next step at this point when the country is facing multiple risks: cold winter weather, the increasing threat of the Delta variant and waning vaccine effectiveness among fully vaccinated people. Due to the drastic relaxation of the social distancing rules, everything seems to have almost completely returned to what it was like before the pandemic already. Though the Living with COVID-19 policies aim to focus more on critically ill patients, the authorities should not undermine the importance of curbing new infections.”

Koreatimes

Infectious disease specialist at Korea University Guro Hospital

13 Nov 2021 8 4

Jeong Eun-kyeong

Inserted 2 years ago

“We may have to extend the current phase, or strengthen the quarantine measures. We are monitoring the increase of critical patients cautiously. Given that only 10 days have passed into the new scheme, we will continue to monitor the situation and take the necessary measures.”

Koreatimes

Commissioner of Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency

11 Nov 2021 3 3

Young-rae Sohn

Inserted 2 years ago

“If we manage to stabilize the coronavirus situation during this month, we will make adjustments to the social distancing system in October which would bring us closer to pre-COVID-19 normalcy.”

Koreatimes

Senior official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea

05 Sep 2021 2 1

Kim Yoon

Inserted 2 years ago

“The average fatality rate of COVID-19 patients was previously 0.98 percent, but in line with the vaccine rollout, the figure fell to 0.18 percent last month, similar to that of the seasonal flu. We might look for possible ways to control the coronavirus similar to the flu. The government should stop counting the number of daily new infections, as this figure should not be the threshold for determining the level of the social distancing measures. Instead, quarantine resources should be poured into strengthening Korea's medical capacity for treating critically ill COVID-19 patients.”

Koreatimes

Professor of health policy and management at Seoul National University

20 Aug 2021 2 3

Moon Jae-in

Inserted 2 years ago

“When it comes to the COVID-19 crisis - compared to any other advanced nation - our country is overcoming it in a stable manner. We will also surely prevail over this fourth wave fueled by the spread of the Delta variant. The inoculations are also approaching their target. In October, 70 percent of the total population will have received their second shots, and vaccination rate targets will be raised once more.”

Koreatimes

President of South Korea

15 Aug 2021 5 3

Kim Gi-hyeon

Inserted 2 years ago

“The Moon [Moon Jae-in] government is behaving nonsensically by complimenting itself in this severe situation [daily Covid-19 cases reaching new high]. The President should explain the situation and apologize to the public.”

Koreatimes

South Korean politician member of the People Power Party (PPP)

12 Aug 2021 2 4

Moon Jae-in

Inserted 2 years ago

“Thanks to the policies, we could successfully cope with COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and all other areas related to infectious diseases. The health insurance system has played the role of final defense in the country's battle against the pandemic.”

Koreatimes

President of South Korea

12 Aug 2021 2 2

Kim Woo-joo

Inserted 2 years ago

“The current social distancing plan was revised with the aim of relieving the socio-economic burden, so it is less effective in curbing the virus. The daily tally may climb to 3,000 unless stronger regulations are implemented. One of the most important goals of the vaccination drive is to prevent elderly people from falling into a critical condition and reducing the death rate among them. It seems appropriate to finish the second round of vaccinations for people aged 60 or older, and then proceed to those in their 50s. The first dose is insufficient to prevent Delta variant infections. Recent findings show that the variant is as twice as contagious than the original virus and more likely to cause severe illness.”

Koreatimes

Infectious disease specialist at Korea University Guro Hospital

11 Aug 2021 2 3

Young-rae Sohn

Inserted 2 years ago

“We judged that there was no need to worry too much about the Delta variant as its infection rate was very low at the time. Looking back at the situation in June, we should have been more active in trying to control the variant.”

Koreatimes

Senior official from the Ministry of Health and Welfare of South Korea

14 Jul 2021 4 3

Kim Woo-joo

Inserted 2 years ago

“People will gather from all over the country in the summer vacation season and there could be a balloon effect that spreads from the metropolitan area to non-metropolitan areas. If we can't control the upturn now, we will see a bigger epidemic in August and September.”

Koreatimes

Professor of infectious diseases at Korea University Guro Hospital

02 Jul 2021 2 2

Eom Joong-sik

Inserted 2 years ago

“I believe it would be far more reasonable to discuss easing the social distancing rules after the country's vaccination rate exceeds 50 percent of the total population. The government's messages and signals about easing the distancing scheme affected the public's overall attitude and it also fueled the increasing trend of cases.”

Koreatimes

Professor of infectious medicine at Gachon University Gil Hospital

02 Jul 2021 2 3

Ipse Dixit

Ipse Dixit

Context

IPSE'S AUTHORS LAST 24h

IPSEs IN THE LAST 24H

NEW CONTEXTS IN THE LAST 24H

“The effect of the measures will be small. They won't drastically slow down the spread until the year-end. Things may get worse given the cold winter weather and the increasing cases of the Omicron variant.”

“The government has failed to curb the surge in critically ill patients and secure enough hospital beds during the phased return to normalcy.”

“The government seems to be not fully aware of the current situation. This is not a good time to consider any return to the normalcy scheme at all, but a time to come up with stronger quarantine measures.”

“This virus spreading will continue for a while as the effectiveness of the vaccinations in the elderly decreases, and secondary infections will also increase through home treatment.”

“The efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines for the elderly has been reduced due to the emergence of the more virulent and aggressive Delta variant. Neither the government nor medical experts expected critical cases to increase so quickly.”

“We are in the fourth week after adopting the gradual return to normalcy plan. It is now time to make a decision on whether to move on to the next stage, but the situation is much more serious than expected.”

“There are concerns that our journey to return to normalcy could stop for a while if this crisis cannot be overcome. We will improve our hospital bed management system.”

“We may have to extend the current phase, or strengthen the quarantine measures. We are monitoring the increase of critical patients cautiously. Given that only 10 days have passed into the new scheme, we will continue to monitor the situation and take the necessary measures.”

“If we manage to stabilize the coronavirus situation during this month, we will make adjustments to the social distancing system in October which would bring us closer to pre-COVID-19 normalcy.”

“The Moon [Moon Jae-in] government is behaving nonsensically by complimenting itself in this severe situation [daily Covid-19 cases reaching new high]. The President should explain the situation and apologize to the public.”

“Thanks to the policies, we could successfully cope with COVID-19 prevention, diagnosis and treatment, and all other areas related to infectious diseases. The health insurance system has played the role of final defense in the country's battle against the pandemic.”

“We judged that there was no need to worry too much about the Delta variant as its infection rate was very low at the time. Looking back at the situation in June, we should have been more active in trying to control the variant.”

“People will gather from all over the country in the summer vacation season and there could be a balloon effect that spreads from the metropolitan area to non-metropolitan areas. If we can't control the upturn now, we will see a bigger epidemic in August and September.”

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