[WORD_ON_THE_WEB] 'Tighten the entry procedures'

The first confirmed case of monkeypox was reported in Korea. It has been only 40 days since the first patient was reported in Britain on May 7th. The patient has returned from Germany on June 21 and showed symptoms of mild fever and a skin rash on arrival.

In response to the first confirmed case, the KDCA has raised the alert level for the disease from “interest” to “cautionary.” It also announced local preventive teams will be set up and operated in every city and province so as to put emergency quarantine system in place.

On the same day, a foreign national who was suspected to have contact with monkeypox tested negative but tested positive for chickenpox. However, the person falsely reported that they have “no symptoms” although showing symptoms of a sore throat and skin lesions, which caused controversy. Many have pointed out that there is a loophole in Korea’s quarantine measures, as suspected patient could not be found through quarantine inspections at the airport.

“Make sure that procured vaccines and medicine can be supplied at medical sites swiftly, if needed. And introduce the usage of third generation vaccines and antiviral medicine for monkeypox as soon as possible,” said President Yoon Suk-yeol.

#quarantine_loopholes
“We’ve been through hard times because of Covid-19 and the government cannot control the situation properly? Curse words are coming out of my mouth. What did the public do wrong?”
“Please strengthen inspections at the airport. The current system has lots of defects.”
“Tighten the entry procedures and levy a heavy fine if someone falsely reports.”

#feeling_anxious
“Why is my body suddenly itchy? Ugh, I feel very anxious and disturbed.”
“Covid-19 and then monkeypox... What’s the next one? The second pandemic is starting now?”

BY LEE SI-YEONG, BY HAN HYE-RIM [han.hyerim1@joongang.co.kr]