Privacy and Character Evaluation Based on Movement... COVID-19 Confirmed Patients Cry Twice

Exposure of Private Lives Including Adulterers and Karaoke Helpers... Reckless Personal Attacks
Praise Pours for Sensible and Model Cases Among Confirmed Patients Staying Only at Home

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] COVID-19 confirmed patients are suffering from double hardships. They complain not only about the despair from knowing they are infected and the frustration of being isolated during treatment, but also the pain of having their private lives exposed nationwide as their movement paths are disclosed.

Currently, local governments nationwide, together with the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, disclose all movement paths of confirmed COVID-19 patients prior to their diagnosis. They provide relatively detailed information on the routes and places visited by the patients by date and time. This measure aims to prevent public fear and anxiety. Among those who visited the same places at the same times, individuals with fever or respiratory symptoms can take preemptive action to prepare for possible infection.

However, because the movement paths are disclosed in such detail, there have been side effects of confirmed patients’ private lives being exposed. Online, indiscriminate character judgments about the patients are being made based on their movement paths.

The most representative example is the third confirmed patient diagnosed on January 26. This man, who was identified as a 'super spreader' in the early domestic outbreak of COVID-19, was once labeled an 'adulterer' after it was revealed that he had visited a plastic surgery clinic and a hotel in downtown Seoul. Speculations arising from the disclosure of his movement paths eventually became accepted as facts. After treatment and discharge, the third confirmed patient expressed through the hospital, "I want to live as a forgotten person."

A female confirmed patient who visited karaoke rooms several times during a specific time period was mocked as a 'karaoke helper.' Some confirmed patients in Busan had their motel visit records disclosed, exposing private matters they wanted to keep hidden, and were even accused of being unfaithful individuals.

On the other hand, confirmed patients who stayed only at home after symptoms appeared or had very short travel distances are even praised as heroes. In particular, the second domestic confirmed patient received continuous praise from netizens after it was revealed that he self-quarantined after returning from China, then went to a public health center for testing and was hospitalized once symptoms appeared. Such confirmed patients, whose movement paths are virtually nonexistent, are evaluated as 'considerate' and 'model cases.'

However, experts point out that it is necessary to refrain from simply defending or criticizing individuals based solely on their movement paths. Professor Im Myung-ho of Dankook University’s Department of Psychology emphasized, "Regardless of movement paths, confirmed patients should be recognized as victims of this situation. When infectious diseases like COVID-19 occur, it is a matter for the nation to improve systems, and indiscriminate personal attacks against confirmed patients should not take place."