President Moon Jae-in delivers a special address to the nation, marking his 3rd year in office on May 10. (Photo on the courtesy of Cheong Wa Dae Website)

In a special address marking his 3rd year in office on May 10, President Moon Jae-in announced a plan to elevate the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC) to the tentatively named Disease Control and Prevention Administration to ramp up its expertise and independence.

Korea has been recognized globally for having managed to trace, test and teat patents of COVID-19, whose number have topped more than 10,000, without any lockdown.

The infection of COVID-19, caused by the novel coronavirus, which started in Wuhan, China, last December, has globally spread. Globally, more than 5 million patients tested positive and 326,800 people died as of May 21. The number of affected countries stood at 219.

In Korea, 123 days have passed as of May 21 since the nation’s first COVID-19 case was confirmed on Jan. 20. Ninety four days have passed since COVID-19 spread to many parts of the nation on Feb. 18. The number of infected patients increased by 21 on May 20, for a total of 11,110, according to the KCDC.

As COVID-19 cases surged globally, the World Health Organization classified it as a global pandemic. No drug to treat COVID-19 patients or no vaccine to prevent the disease has been yet available. Countries are trying to contain the spread of the disease through early diagnosis and management.

Korea is the sole country in the world to put the virus outbreak under control without border restrictions. Bill Gates, the co-founder of Microsoft praised Korea for its superb efforts to trace, test and treat COVID-19 cases in a U.S. TV talk show. Gates touted Korea for making the outcome of COVID-18 tests available within 24 hours.

Korea’s global example of containment is owed to the nation’s enhanced response capability against the pandemic based on lessons learned from the outbreak of MERS (Middle East Respiratory Syndrome) in 2015, including the full coverage of all people by the national health insurance program, which is essential in tracking all COVID-19 patients.

Director Jung Eun-kyong of the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (KCDC). (Photo: KCDC)

But KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyong hinted at the probability of a recrudescence of COVID-19 in the upcoming winter.

 
In the address, President Moon said, “We have firmly defended the infectious disease prevention and control frontlines based on the strength of our people and have been winning the war against the virus. With our COVID-19 situation entering the stabilization phase, we have now transitioned to a new normal in which safety precautions against the virus and daily lives can be simultaneously maintained.”

“However, it doesn’t mean that we are back to the time before the COVID-19 outbreak. The infection cluster which recently occurred in entertainment facilities has raised awareness that, even during the stabilization phase, similar situations can arise again anytime, anywhere in an enclosed, crowded space,” President Moon said.

“We should also brace for the pandemic’s second wave, which many experts are predicting. However, we cannot afford to keep waiting until then to return to normal daily lives. Although combating the virus is the starting point for economic recovery, it will not be nearly enough to resolve the issues surrounding people’s livelihoods.”

“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be upgraded to the Disease Control and Prevention Administration to strengthen its expertise and independence. It will be staffed with more professionals, and a local epidemic response system will be established to make up for any insufficient provincial capabilities,” President Moon said.