Journalists line up at a distance from one another to get tickets to a movie event at a cinema in Seoul on June 4, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, June 15 (Korea Bizwire) — A recent study has revealed that as the outbreak of the coronavirus is prolonging, the level of the Korean people’s awareness of disease control and prevention efforts has become higher than five years ago when a MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) outbreak threatened the country.
According to the Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center, Lee Jin-yong, professor of public health at SNU, Jang Won-mo, a medical PhD at the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, and Jang Deok-hyun, a PhD researcher at Gallup Korea, carried out a joint study to show the difference in people’s awareness of disease control efforts between COVID-19 and MERS.
The study compared and analyzed the change in Koreans’ observation of the disease prevention guidelines between today’s COVID-19 and MERS, which prevailed five years ago.
The researchers discovered that the percentage of Koreans strictly implementing the guidelines on disease control and social distancing was far higher now than it was five years ago.
The ratio of respondents who said they were refraining from participating in outdoor activities and taking public transportation stood at 55.4 percent and 41.9 percent, respectively, five years ago.
For the COVID-19 pandemic, however, these figures shot up to 96.7 percent and 87.4 percent.
The ratio of people abstaining from using multiuse facilities also showed about a twofold increase.
When it came to abiding by personal sanitary guidelines such as mask wearing and hand washing, the ratio jumped from 15.5 percent and 60.3 percent during MERS to 78.8 percent and 80.2 percent for COVID-19.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
