Mayor Yeum Tae-young of Suwon "Will Propose to Government to Disclose Movement Routes During Asymptomatic Period of Confirmed Cases"
[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Mayor Yeum Tae-young of Suwon said, "I will propose to the government that the places visited and people contacted by confirmed cases of COVID-19 during their asymptomatic period should be actively managed."
Mayor Yeum said at a situation check meeting held at the City Hall Disaster and Safety Situation Room on the 4th, "The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention disclosed the movement route of the 15th confirmed patient (Suwon resident) only from two days before symptom onset to the time of diagnosis (January 30 to February 1), and citizens' concerns are growing," and "Since there is a possibility of disease transmission by asymptomatic individuals, it would be desirable for confirmed patients to disclose all movement routes from the time of their return to the country."
He continued, "Basic local governments do not have the authority to disclose confirmed patient movement routes or to conduct epidemiological investigations," and pointed out that "if these authorities are not given to basic local governments, the ability to respond to infectious diseases in the community may decrease."
The 15th confirmed patient is a 43-year-old Korean man residing in Cheoncheon-dong, Jangan-gu, who returned from Wuhan, China on the 20th of last month on the same flight as the 4th confirmed patient (Pyeongtaek resident). The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention classified him as a "close contact" and notified the city on the 29th of last month, and the Jangan-gu Health Center managed him as a subject for self-quarantine.
Seven "close contacts," including the confirmed patient's family members, all tested "negative" in specimen tests. The seven who tested negative will remain under "self-quarantine" for the next two weeks. The Jangan-gu Health Center will check their condition at any time.
According to the epidemiological investigation results announced by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the 3rd, the 15th confirmed patient self-quarantined at home on January 30-31, and on the afternoon of February 1 drove his own car to the Jangan-gu Health Center's screening clinic to be tested.
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the epidemiological investigation period is from two days before the date symptoms of fever or respiratory symptoms appear. From the 15th confirmed patient's return date of January 20 to January 29, three days before symptom onset, is not an investigation period, but voices are growing that "all movement routes should be disclosed" due to "asymptomatic transmission possibility."
Mayor Yeum also said, "Suspected cases and people in close contact undergo a first test at the regional public health and environmental research institute, and a second test at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but if the number of people who need to be tested increases to hundreds or thousands, we cannot respond," and emphasized that "large-scale basic local governments should be given the authority to hire epidemiological investigators."
He continued, "Information about COVID-19 should be disclosed as quickly and transparently as possible," and said, "If information is not disclosed transparently, anxiety grows and citizens lose trust in the government."
Currently, all confirmed patient contacts are placed under "self-quarantine" for two weeks, and the respective health centers monitor contacts more than twice a day. If contacts violate self-quarantine, they face a fine of up to 3 million won through criminal prosecution.