ed End of MERS
PM’s declaration calls time out for self-reflection
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn Tuesday declared the end of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) epidemic. Hwang’s call fits the mood of the nation that is anxious to put the sad episode behind it and get back to normal life as soon as possible.
No one remains in quarantine, while only one patient is waiting for a “negative” clearance. The World Health Organization’s (WHO) official recognition that Korea is MERS-free is expected late next month.
However painful, it is important to revisit the whole episode so all of us will do our part properly if and when the next outbreak comes our way. There are a number of lessons to be learned from the MERS saga.
The first pertains to the daughter of the third patient, who turned out to be the fourth patient herself. The woman in her 40s visited a medical facility for checks on the morning of May 25, the fifth day after the first case, explaining she was suffering from a fever after taking care of her father. She was told that her temperature was normal and was turned away. A lesson for medical authorities is not to make light of self-professed symptoms. It’s better to err on the side of caution.
Case No. 2 is the policy of secrecy that blew up in the face of the government. On June 2, social networking service (SNS) channels were inundated with a list of hospitals and clinics at risk because a patient or patients’ visitors. The government first refused to make public the list but succumbed to public pressure, disclosing the names of 24 medical facilities on June 7. The disclosed list was by and large identical to the one being tossed around on SNS. Although Deputy Prime Minister Choi Kyung-hwan made a big show out of the list, the trust between the people and government was already severely damaged. From that time on, the public has reacted with more suspicion and skepticism to the government’s handling of the outbreak. Honesty is the best policy, after all.
Case No. 3 is Samsung Medical Center in two parts. Patient No. 14 checked into what was regarded as Korea’s top-rated hospital on May 27 and was allowed to roam throughout the premises before he showed symptoms and tested positive two days later. By the time he was traced to one of the at-risk hospitals, he already had infected more than 90 others. Patient No. 35 was one of them, who Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon claimed in a late-night news conference came into contact with more than 1,600 people. Park, a likely bidder for the next presidency, sent the nation into a panic. Do we need an alarmist as our leader?
The second part is about a declaration made by a Samsung epidemiologist during a National Assembly hearing on June 11. “It is not Samsung but the government that has been penetrated,” he said. The very next day, a Samsung emergency staff worker was found to have been left out from quarantine and later confirmed as Patient No. 137. Samsung Group heir Lee Jay-yong apologized. Sometimes pride kills.
Health authorities were accused of delaying a call for help to the WHO, while expat communities were frustrated with the lack of information. It shouldn’t be a case of xenophobia.
Being oblivious softens the rough edges of memory and makes it easier to remember. But too much of it will lead to a repeat of the same mistakes. We all agree that we don’t want to relive the MERS nightmare.