Health Authorities "Prioritize Proceeding with Scientific Evidence"
"Will Make Efforts to Provide Additional Explanation if There Are Misunderstandings"
[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] In response to suspicions raised by some quarters that the number of COVID-19 diagnostic tests is being manipulated to arbitrarily adjust the daily number of new confirmed cases, the quarantine authorities firmly denied, stating, "There is no such concept."
On the 15th, Kwon Junwook, Deputy Head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH), said at a regular briefing held at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency in Osong, Chungbuk, "The very idea of 'increasing tests when necessary' is not in the minds or hearts of the KDCA at all," adding, "This is the first time I have seen such a question, and it is somewhat shocking to me."
He continued, "The quarantine authorities always listen to experts' opinions based on science, evidence, and the situation as it is," emphasizing, "We only think about how to suppress and block COVID-19 as much as possible, protect the health of the people, reduce the fatality rate, and minimize sacrifices."
He added, "The quarantine authorities always prioritize transparency and accurate scientific evidence," and said, "If anyone has even the slightest misunderstanding about the authorities, we will make efforts to provide additional explanations at any time."
Earlier, on the 14th, Yoon Heesook, a member of the People Power Party, claimed on Facebook that "there are suspicions that the government increases testing whenever necessary to induce fear."
Yoon said on the same day, "Although it has been consistently criticized that only the number of confirmed cases is announced without mentioning the denominator, the number of tests, the government turns a deaf ear (maidongpung, 馬耳東風) to this," pointing out, "On weekends, the number of tests decreases due to reduced testing personnel, but it is portrayed as if the quarantine measures are effective and the number of confirmed cases is decreasing."
She explained, "Therefore, suspicions that the government increases testing when necessary to induce fear, and that it uses this for other purposes, have not subsided."
Jung Eun-kyung, Director of the Central Disease Control Headquarters (Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency) / Photo by Yonhap News
Regarding the CDCH's announcement that only one person (0.07%) out of 1,440 citizens surveyed across 13 cities and provinces nationwide was found to have antibodies, she criticized, "It is true that the results cannot be fully trusted," adding, "The quarantine authorities themselves seemed embarrassed and added a caveat that 'the sample size is too small to generalize.'"
However, Yoon's claim that "only the number of confirmed cases is announced without mentioning the denominator (number of COVID-19 tests)" was found to be inaccurate. The KDCA releases press statements daily at midnight announcing the number of new confirmed cases along with the number of tests conducted that day, the number of tests currently in progress, and the number of negative results.
Moreover, the quarantine authorities have continuously explained that the total number of tests decreases on weekends due to closures of private hospitals, which can make it appear as if the number of confirmed cases is decreasing.
At a regular briefing on the 24th of last month, Jeong Eun-kyung, Commissioner of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, stated, "There has been a tendency for the number of patients to appear to decrease over the weekend and at the beginning of the week on Monday and Tuesday in the past as well."
At the regular briefing on the 31st, which was a Monday, she also mentioned, "The number of confirmed cases slightly decreased over the past weekend," and said, "I think this is due to the weekend (testing decrease) effect."
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