“Outbreak spreading locally, need to deny Chinese traveler"

Recommendation by former Director of KCDC Jun Byung Yool and Professor Choi Jae Wook of KU

Director of Paik Hospital “Special clinic’s preventive care in high danger, sufficient compensation needed”

Professor Choi Jae Wook of Korea University College of Medicine

Professor Choi Jae Wook at Korea University Department of Preventive Medicine raised his voice and said, “How could government affirm that the novel coronavirus has not started transmitting throughout Korea?

 

This is the government mocking the people and medical experts.

 

We should not ignore the possibility of the current number of confirmed case of 27 exponentially increasing up to thousands and more.

 

The government would need to promptly take proactive steps and strengthen the infectious disease control.” Medical experts have pointed out the infectious disease control alert level should be raised from 'warning' to 'severe,' and restriction on Korea-bound travelers from China should be expanded wider from 'Wuhan-outbound only' to properly prevent the novel coronavirus spreading locally in Korea.

 

The strong arguments were made as the outbreak did not stop transmitting since the first confirmed patient was reported since Jan.

 

20, and total 27 patients have been confirmed to have been infected as of Feb.

 

10 through secondary and tertiary infection.

 

On Feb.

 

10, the Liberty Korea Party's Novel Coronavirus Counterplan TF convened 'Emergency Expert-level Roundtable on Preventing Novel Coronavirus Infection and Transmission.’ Professor Jun Byung Yool at CHA University College of Medicine, a former Director of Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and Professor Choi Jae Wook at Korea University Department of Preventive Medicine respectively gave presentation.

 

Both Professor Jun and Professor Choi agreed the state-led infectious disease control level should be enhanced higher to prevent the worst case of the novel coronavirus spreading nationwide.

 

Professor Jun claimed the novel coronavirus' human transmissibility is higher than previous case of SARS or MERS, but the fatality rate is at around 4 percent to 5 percent, relatively lower than that of SARS (10 percent) or MERS (30 percent).

 

With lower fatality rate and higher transmissibility of the disease, the professor urged interregional transmission of the infectious disease should be stopped by tightening the state-led disease control at this point in time, when the travelers contracted the virus from China and other countries have not infected anyone came in contact.

 

Professor Jun clarified actions like shutting out Chinese and other high-risk group entering the country, should be taken.

 

Professor Choi diagnosed interregional spread of the novel coronavirus, originated from Wuhan, China, has begun in Korea.

 

The professor reprehended the government, who is supposed to put all efforts to prevent the outbreak, is making a hasty judgment to say the interregional transmission has not started.

 

Specifically, Professor Choi pointed out the government has failed and reached the worst case scenario of infecting other regions by failing to prevent the disease outbreak in Korea, followed by politically interfering quarantine system.

 

The professor also said the current administration is repeating the same issue of national infectious disease control, which was apparent during the MERS outbreak five years ago.

 

As a solution to the issue, Professor Choi proposed readjusting the infectious disease control approach from retrospective to proactive countermeasure, and forming Public-private Joint Emergency Response TF for the government and private healthcare institutes to cooperate.

 

He said, “If the experts do not talk about the current state of government response, then it would repeat the misstep and the infected cases would surge from 27 to thousands and more in a matter of time.

 

The interregional transmission has already begun.

 

At the moment, only the people who came in contact with the confirmed patients are regarded as subject for testing.

 

We need to switch from such retrospective response to proactive response.” “First, the infectious disease alert level should be pushed up to ‘severe,’ and all travelers from China should be temporarily denied.

 

There is no other way to filter out infected patients with dormant symptoms.

 

The regional community should test potential cases early and continue to monitor them,” the professor argued.

 

He elaborated, “Proactive countermeasure cannot be taken only with government-run health centers and hospitals.

 

Regional clinics’ cooperation and participation are essential.

 

The number of infected patients in China started from 40 and now it surpassed 30,000.

 

Infectious disease control should not ignore the people’s rights to health and let political bias get in the way.”

Director Lee Sungsoon of Ilsan Paik Hospital

Director Lee Sungsoon of Inje University Ilsan Paik Hospital also claimed, the administration is repeating the same mistake occurred five years ago with MERS.

 

More special clinics have been opened, but the government has not yet supplied anti-contamination suit or mask, making proper medical practice impossible.

 

Moreover, the government has not offered any compensation for healthcare institute participating in the disease control.

 

Director Lee pin pointed, “Quarantine and transmission prevention are the keys to overcoming infectious disease outbreak.

 

Healthcare institutes are in charge of testing and treating patients, whereas quarantine and prevention are the duties of the government.

 

However the administration is repeating the same problem caused during the MERS incident.

 

Many of special clinic are working without even a mask.” “The loose unpreparedness is happening again after five years.

 

Only a handful of State-designated Quarantine Hospitals around the country can properly operate a special clinic.

 

The government advises private clinics to operate individual special clinic or safe clinic, but it would rather only increase the risk,” Director urged.

 

He added, “Small local clinic doctors should be able to test patients when encountering suspicious patient.

 

The medical professionals’ concern is their clinics closing when visited by an infected patient.

 

The government has mentioned of appropriate compensation.

 

But only sufficient compensation, and not ‘appropriate compensation,’ would encourage clinics to test and treat patients and prevent further local transmission.”