A medical worker warms herself under a gas heater at a makeshift clinic for coronavirus tests in front of Seoul Station on Jan. 1, 2021, amid a cold snap hitting the country. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 4 (Korea Bizwire) — Healthcare workers infected with COVID-19 will be recognized by authorities as having suffered from an industrial accident.
A separate deliberation procedure or review will not be necessary.
The Korea Workers’ Compensation and Welfare Service said Wednesday that a new set of regulations have come into effect this month which includes the aforementioned changes.
As such, infections among healthcare workers or those working in quarantine facilities will be recognized as industrial accidents, without the need to convene a separate committee for review.
If the infection is clearly related to the work and responsibilities of the healthcare worker, they will be exempt from deliberation, thereby expediting the process of compensation.
In case of a disease related to the musculoskeletal system, an industrial accident will be recognized if it turns out to be closely related to the work and responsibilities of the employee.
Any other disease that turns out to be correlated to a healthcare worker’s job as proven by the results of an epidemiological investigation will also be exempted from separate deliberation or review.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
