[2024 National Audit] 270,000 COVID-19 Sequelae Patients... "Lack of Government Management System"

Assemblyman Baek Jong-heon, "Shifting Responsibility Between Ministry of Health and Disease Control Agency"

The number of patients suffering from aftereffects (chronic COVID-19 syndrome) following COVID-19 infection has exceeded 274,000, but due to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) shifting responsibility to each other, it has been pointed out that a support system for these patients has not been established.

On the 8th, Baek Jong-heon, a member of the People Power Party, at the Health and Welfare Committee's national audit, stated, "In 2022, based on post-management for patients suffering from COVID-19 aftereffects, a disease code related to chronic COVID-19 syndrome was newly established," adding, "However, national-level support for tests or treatments for these patients is not being provided."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

According to data Baek received from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, from 2020 until last July, the total number of patients diagnosed with the standard disease codes U09 (Post COVID-19 condition), U09.9 (Post COVID-19 condition, unspecified), U10 (Multisystem inflammatory syndrome related to COVID-19), and U10.9 (Multisystem inflammatory syndrome related to COVID-19, unspecified) was 274,372.

By year, the number of chronic COVID-19 syndrome patients increased sharply from 196 in 2020 to 175,220 in 2022, and this year alone, from January to July, recorded 10,877 cases. After the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak, as the endemic phase (transition of an infectious disease to a locally prevalent disease) began, the number of chronic COVID-19 syndrome patients seemed to slightly decrease, but with the resurgence of COVID-19 this summer, the number of patients experiencing aftereffects increased again. As repeated resurgences due to COVID-19 variants are expected, the importance of managing chronic COVID-19 syndrome has increased.

COVID-19 aftereffects include prolonged sore throat, difficulty breathing, fatigue, brain fog (experiencing confusion, memory and concentration decline), blood clots, acute pulmonary embolism, and anxiety disorders.

Baek said, "The Ministry of Health and Welfare says, 'Management of COVID-19 syndrome patients is the responsibility of the KDCA,' while the KDCA says, 'COVID-19 aftereffects are not an infectious disease, so there is no legal basis to intervene or use the budget,' and they are shifting responsibility to each other." He also emphasized, "Long-term treatment for COVID-19 aftereffects is necessary, and there are cases where people quit their jobs because of this. A systematic government-level procedure to respond to aftereffects should be established to prevent mild chronic COVID-19 syndrome patients from progressing to severe cases."

In response, Minister of Health and Welfare Cho Kyu-hong replied, "Understood." KDCA Director Ji Young-mi said, "The KDCA is conducting a cohort research project on chronic COVID-19 patients and developing guidelines through research," adding, "For these guidelines to be better used in medical settings, a support system seems necessary. We will discuss with experts whether separate support is needed."