As activity shrank during the three years of COVID-19, it was found that "life and cancer" clearly existed in terms of society as a whole. New medical systems such as untact treatment were introduced at hospitals, but non-face-to-face treatment turned on red signals for mental health.
First of all, hospitals designated as hospitals specializing in infectious diseases and respiratory diseases have begun to introduce non-face-to-face treatment methods that do not contact patients and medical staff. Lee Chun-taek Hospital, designated as a hospital specializing in respiratory diseases in March last year, introduced a non-face-to-face treatment method in April of that year. Even if a patient with COVID-19 or suspected of infection does not visit the hospital, if he explains his symptoms by phone, the medical staff can deliver the medicine or hand over the prescription to the pharmacy to visit him. In this way, about 200 patients received treatment without contacting medical staff until December last year.
Anseong Hospital of Gyeonggi Medical Center, which takes care of severely ill patients, also introduced a non-face-to-face monitoring system from March 2020 to May last year. A hospital official said, "We installed cameras and transparent walls in the hospital room to prevent infection by medical staff and monitored the patient's condition 24 hours a day," adding, "Although it was awkward to prevent the spread of infection and respond quickly, patients were satisfied."
In addition, the overall use of medical care by the public has decreased due to the effects of quarantine rules and social distancing practices. Infectious diseases other than COVID-19 have decreased while paying attention to personal hygiene such as wearing masks and washing hands. In particular, from March to July 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 era, the number of patients who visited the hospital due to respiratory diseases such as flu and pneumonia was 8,06,839, down 51.9% from the same period last year (16,695,341).
On the other hand, there was also a dark side of society due to COVID-19. During the three years trapped in a non-face-to-face life with a mask, communication disconnection became serious, and depression increased accordingly. According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's mental health survey, the proportion of depression risk groups surged from 3.2% in 2019 before the COVID-19 epidemic to 18.5% in 2022, and the suicide thought rate increased from 4.6% to 11.5% than before COVID-19. In particular, in March 2021, the first year since social distancing was implemented, it peaked at 22.7%.
In addition, as they preferred non-face-to-face life due to social distancing, waste of disposable products such as plastic and packaging materials surged. According to Statistics Korea's "Korea's Social Trends 2022," the amount of courier use per person increased from 65.1 boxes in 2020 when COVID-19 began to 70.3 boxes in 2021. This means that the entire nation used 1.4 deliveries per week. As a result, the emission of waste synthetic resin used as various packaging materials such as courier and delivery food has doubled from 2.02 million tons (2019) to 4.41 million tons in 2020.
For the three years that followed the COVID-19 era, South Korea was a series of "confusion." On the day of the first confirmed patient, the infectious disease crisis alert was raised to "caution," and a month later, it rose to the highest level of "serious." Various quarantine measures have also emerged in the unprecedented pandemic situation. Now in the third year of COVID-19, we have to get out of the chaotic situation and face a stable daily life. Then, how should we accept COVID-19? Experts agreed that everyone should change according to the COVID-19 era, regardless of the field, including medical staff at the forefront of infectious diseases, the government and local governments.
Eom Jung-sik, a professor of infectious medicine at Gachon University Gil Hospital, said, "There have also been many variables in the medical community over the three years of COVID-19. It is time to create a specific treatment system that can be treated with the burden of COVID-19 and establish a system to respond to another mutated virus, he said. "This can be achieved only when many things such as laws, financial resources, and social systems as well as the medical community are changed." Professor Um said, "Everyone is tired of the COVID-19 incident that has lasted for three years, but COVID-19 has not completely disappeared and will become one of the diseases in daily life," adding, "There should be no more confusion by setting a direction to respond to new infectious diseases from this era."
Lim Un-taek, a sociology professor at Keimyung University, said, "Technology has grown through social distancing and non-face-to-face dailyization, but there have also been vulnerabilities such as socialization." In particular, relationships between people are formed face-to-face, and I missed them because I had no choice but to distance myself from infectious diseases," he said. "Taking off the mask does not immediately socialize, and it is true that fear exists as there are still concerns about infection. We need consideration and patience for each other to reinterpret our lives and completely recover our daily lives," he stressed. He then said, "These things are not responsible to the government, local governments, etc., nor can they be defined by law. He suggested that the will of all members of society to coexist with COVID-19 is more required.
Writer: Yeyoung Jeon
(Picture from Unsplash)