Health workers in protective gear disinfect a traditional market in Seoul on Sept. 16, 2021. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Feb. 21 (Korea Bizwire) — Low-income regions highly populated with seniors, disabled individuals and immigrants are more vulnerable to a pandemic like COVID-19, a report said Sunday.
A research team from the Korea Institute of Public Administration studied the exposure (how easily a disease may spread), susceptibility (how much a disease can incur physical, economic, and social damage), and adaptive capacity (how a region can effectively address the disease) of various regions hit by an epidemic.
The team suggested that a highly susceptible region with low adaptive capacity is extremely vulnerable to epidemics since it will sustain significant damage incurred by the disease while lacking the infrastructure to address it effectively.
A total of 36 regions selected by the research team turned out to have a high population of seniors, disabled, immigrants and those struggling with underlying diseases, with many in the lower income brackets.
They also lacked medical facilities, staff, and funding for social welfare programs.
“A highly susceptible region may witness a high mortality rate when hit by an infectious disease, with more people exposed to multiple damages. A region as such requires a high capacity of medical infrastructure,” the report said.
“However, many regions in the country tend to lack adaptive capacity the more susceptible they are.”
Regions with high exposure tended to be heavily populated areas with a high number of public facilities. They included metropolitan cities like Seoul and Incheon.
They were, however, relatively less susceptible with a higher adaptive capacity.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
