Citizens, holding umbrellas amid a heatwave, wait in line to receive coronavirus tests at a makeshift clinic in front of Seoul Station on July 18, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 14 (Korea Bizwire) – The government has vowed to consider institutional and cultural measures to allow COVID-19 patients to go on leave, even after quarantine requirements are lifted.
“Once quarantine requirements are lifted, we’ll have to consider replacing them with other institutional and cultural measures that allow the patient to get rest,” health ministry spokesperson Son Young-rae said.
Once quarantine requirements are lifted, virus patients will have to go on voluntary self-quarantine.
There are concerns, however, that those who go on voluntary leave may be subject to disadvantages at school or work due to the lack of customs and practices that accommodate self-quarantine.
“There need to be instructions and guidelines for small and medium-sized enterprises, the self-employed and platform workers who face significantly more difficulties than large conglomerates in coming up with their own quarantine or work-from-home practices,” said Kim Yoon, a professor of health policy and management at Seoul National University’s College of Medicine.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is currently working with experts to come up with a sound policy for lifting quarantine requirements as well as new institutional and cultural measures to replace the quarantine policy, Son said.
As long as penal measures for violating quarantine requirements are still in effect, subsidies for quarantine will also continue to be available, Son added.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
