Jung Eun-kyung, Director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency
[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] From now on, anyone who has come into contact with a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) during the period when the patient exhibited symptoms such as fever and cough will be subject to self-quarantine. Previously, contacts were classified as close or casual based on the circumstances at the time of contact, but now all will be uniformly classified as contacts. If the epidemiological investigation determines that exposure exceeded a certain threshold after symptoms appeared, self-quarantine measures must be followed.
On the 3rd, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced that it will apply the revised 4th edition of the response guidelines from the 4th to prevent the domestic spread of the novel coronavirus. Accordingly, there will no longer be a distinction between close and casual contacts; all will be considered contacts. Contact is defined as being within 2 meters of the patient during the symptomatic period or being in the same enclosed space where the confirmed patient coughed without wearing a mask.
Previously, close contacts were subject to self-quarantine followed by testing, while casual contacts were classified as active monitoring targets. Active monitoring involved local public health centers contacting individuals sequentially on the first day, second day, and seventh day by phone to check for fever and respiratory symptoms, isolating and testing them if suspicious symptoms appeared. The degree of contact was determined through on-site epidemiological investigations, but to avoid confusion at the frontline, management will now be simplified.
Once classified as a contact and placed under self-quarantine, the individual will be assigned a dedicated local government official for management and support. For daycare center workers, their names will be reported to the relevant local government childcare department for management. Jeong Eun-kyung, Director of the KCDC, stated, "Because there were two concepts until now, it was complicated for provinces and cities to apply or understand. This means that those who were under active monitoring will be converted to self-quarantine, and close contacts will be more broadly identified and placed under self-quarantine."
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