'Corona Disaster Texts Suspended After 3 Years, Fueling Fatigue and Distrust'

Suspension in 10 Metropolitan Cities and Provinces Including Gangwon-do from the 3rd
Send Only When Guidance on Special Quarantine Measures Is Necessary

[Asia Economy Reporter Ra Young-cheol] Disaster text messages reporting new COVID-19 confirmed cases sent by local governments since the China-originated COVID-19 pandemic will disappear after three years.

Gangwon Province announced on the same day, "Since February last year, we have stopped sending disaster text messages notifying the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases, and from the 3rd, all cities and counties have decided to stop sending disaster text messages."

The province explained the reason for stopping the disaster text messages reporting the number of COVID-19 confirmed cases as "increased fatigue among residents due to repeated transmissions and decreased effectiveness of disaster messages."

The number of COVID-19 confirmed cases can be checked through the websites of cities and counties, and disaster text messages will only be sent when it is necessary to inform residents of special quarantine measures rather than simple confirmed case notifications.

This decision also reflects the fact that, about a month after making COVID-19 PCR tests mandatory for short-term foreign entrants from China, no confirmed cases have been reported for the first time.

Earlier, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety sent an official letter to all cities and provinces nationwide on the 18th of last month, recommending "not to send disaster messages for simple confirmed case numbers."

As of the 3rd, among the 17 cities and provinces nationwide, 10 metropolitan local governments including Gangwon Province, Seoul, Incheon, Sejong, Gwangju, Jeonnam, Daegu, Daejeon, Ulsan, and Gyeongbuk have stopped sending notifications of COVID-19 confirmed case numbers.

As a result, comments welcoming the news appeared, such as "The confirmed case messages have been meaningless since last year, so it is good to abolish them now."

However, there is also much criticism and public opinion that it is too late because public fatigue and distrust toward disaster messages have already accumulated since the previous administration.

Disaster messages help the public prepare for emergencies, but many citizens complained of fatigue due to alarms being sent too frequently after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Some citizens pointed out the delay, saying, "I have long blocked messages that ring anytime," and questioned the message transmissions, saying, "The messages that fostered a fearful atmosphere and played with numbers ended so quickly."

Also, during the Moon administration, the disclosure of new COVID-19 confirmed cases' movement paths was repeatedly criticized. While recipients of the messages were negative, the public disclosure of confirmed cases' private lives caused social conflicts as a side effect.

Foreign media also focused on and covered the Korean government's disclosure of confirmed cases' gender, age information, and movement paths as an issue. Even after the introduction of the Central Disease Control Headquarters' guidelines, the disclosure of individual confirmed cases' routes continued to cause controversy.