Academics call for changing quarantine system

As the fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic prolongs, calls are mounting for “overcoming the limitation of K-quarantine.”

In a joint emergency statement, the Korean Society for Preventive Medicine (KSPM) and the Korean Society of Epidemiology (KSEPI) said the country should prepare for “sustainable K-quarantine 2.0.”

Amid the prolonging fight against the Covid-19 pandemic, calls are mounting for the government to revise its restriction-oriented quarantine system.

The two academic societies noted that an increasing number of citizens, including owners-operators, complain of fatigue and difficulties maintaining livelihood due to tight restrictions amid the unrelenting new virus cases totaling more than 1,000 for 50 days or more.

“Social distancing method was effective in the early phases of the Covid-19 outbreak. However, objective data show that it is producing far fewer effects than social costs put into the policy,” the joint statement said. “The K-quarantine system of 3Ts – trace, test and treat – has resorted to medical workers’ dedication and sacrifice without replenishing human and physical resources, reaching a marginal situation nearing collapse.”

As alternatives, it called for supplementing the fairness and effectiveness of the social distancing system by, for instance, replenishing quarantine staff and resources to expand the capacity to maintain the 3-T strategy and more efficiently.

“The government should focus more on treating severe patients, expand vaccine supply, and induce citizens to receive vaccines more actively,” it said.

The two societies also called for shifting from quarantining based on administrative regulation to one participated in by citizens. In addition, they called for making the most of world-renowned network infrastructure and IT technology to develop a platform for the voluntary participation of citizens while protecting their personal information.

“Citizens, quarantine workers, and medical professionals are facing their limits in the prolonged fight against Covid-19,” said Professor Hong Yun-chul of Seoul National University Hospital, a co-leader of the Joint Committee for Covid-19 Response. “Especially, the numbers of self-employed people driven to closing their businesses while sacrificing for public health has increased exponentially.”

Now is the time for social consensus and resolution, encouraging civic society to voluntarily join in quarantine efforts with the spirits of pain sharing and solidarity, Hong emphasized.