[Infectious Disease Life Vaccine④] "Confirmed cases are not the virus"... Stop the stigma effect

Criticism of Confirmed Cases Arises with Every New Infectious Disease Outbreak
Stigmatizing Confirmed Cases Has No Effect on Disease Containment

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Byung-don] Infectious diseases bring fear, and fear demands scapegoats. There is a psychological tendency to hold someone responsible and lash out in order to alleviate the fear. Usually, this is directed at the government responsible for quarantine measures. However, advances in IT technology have expanded and specified the range of scapegoats, and anonymity has amplified the violence. There is also a lure to eliminate political opponents amid the chaos. This is something our society has repeatedly experienced whenever it faces turmoil. The novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) is no exception. The targets of hatred and stigmatization have shifted from Chinese people to Shincheonji members, then to confirmed patients and their families.

"What are you doing wandering around?" "Just stay home, you're a nuisance."

These are common comments from netizens whenever articles about confirmed patients appear. There are even many cases where people accuse them as if they deliberately went out to spread the virus.

The government shares the movement routes of confirmed patients to prevent the spread of COVID-19. However, before the government announces confirmed patient information, personal details of confirmed patients are sometimes shared in advance on social network services (SNS) or some online communities. This is so-called 'doxxing.' As a result, indiscriminate public criticism against confirmed patients sometimes arises.

This is similar to the situation during the 2015 Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak. At that time, public opinion arose to evict the families of confirmed patients from the apartments where they lived, causing confirmed patients to suffer.

The so-called doxxing began with the 'Shincheonji Church of Jesus' (Shincheonji), which caused a large-scale cluster infection. Starting with patient number 31, thousands of confirmed cases emerged from Shincheonji, and the church did not clearly disclose specific infection routes or the list of believers, which led to public criticism. Later, as people who violated self-quarantine guidelines and those who broke social distancing rules were caught by government enforcement, this public sentiment intensified.

The problem is that a significant portion of this public opinion contains false information about confirmed patients. In fact, early in the COVID-19 outbreak, a document titled 'Confirmed Patient Leak' was posted on an online community, prompting a police investigation. The document titled 'Report on the Occurrence of Novel Coronavirus Confirmed Patients in the Jurisdiction' contained partial names, ages, addresses, relationships between confirmed patients, and details of the confirmation process.

In this situation, some confirmed patients posted online appeals asking people to refrain from indiscriminate dissemination of their personal information. One confirmed patient posted in their apartment community, saying, "I am currently being hunted on all SNS, and I am receiving too many calls and texts," and pleaded, "Please do not spread my personal information."

Experts point out that indiscriminate witch-hunt style criticism does not help prevent or block infectious diseases. Professor Im Myung-ho of Dankook University’s Department of Psychology said, "It is necessary to recognize that confirmed patients are also victims, and the term 'super spreader' should not be used," adding, "If excessive doxxing or criticism continues, it can lead to secondary damage." He also warned, "If this kind of witch-hunt continues, more people may feel reluctant to get tested."