More Than Half of COVID-19 Medical and Field Response Teams Feel Treatment Is Unfair

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] A survey has revealed that approximately half of field response personnel—including doctors, nurses, epidemiological investigators, and public health center officials—working on the COVID-19 frontlines believe their treatment is unfair and they are not safe from infection. Experts are pointing out that urgent improvements in treatment for these workers are necessary.

The Gyeonggi Province Public Health and Medical Support Team and Professor Ryu Myung-soon's team at Seoul National University College of Medicine conducted an awareness survey on COVID-19 from May 18 to 31, targeting a total of 1,112 medical and field response team members, and announced the first survey results on the 12th.
This survey was conducted to understand the physical and mental conditions of medical professionals and field response teams, who are key players in COVID-19 response and essential personnel for preparing for a second wave, and to utilize the findings in developing support measures for local governments. Survey areas included risk perception and preventive measures, stress, physical and mental health, work environment, and work commitment and sense of responsibility.

When asked about the fairness of resource allocation and treatment processes for field response teams, 54.1% responded that treatment was unfair, exceeding those who said it was fair (45.9%).
The perception of unfair treatment was highest among public health center officials (65.5%), followed by epidemiological investigators and other response personnel (59.1%), and nurses (51.3%). By organization type, screening clinics and other field response institutions showed the highest perception of unfair treatment (64.6%), followed by private medical institutions (55.5%), and public medical institutions (47.5%).
Regarding the duration of field response work, 41.7% had participated for three months or more to less than four months, the largest share, followed by one month or less at 21.8%, and two months or more to less than three months at 21.5%. When asked about changes in health status due to field response work, 47.2% answered there were no changes, while 37.5% said their health deteriorated. On a five-point scale measuring the degree of health deterioration, those working 30 days reported 3.5, those working 60 days reported 4.0, and those working 90 days reported approximately 4.6, indicating that longer work periods correlated with worsening health conditions.
69.6% of respondents answered that there were no adjustments to work hours to reduce labor intensity, while 43.7% said they participated in work on an involuntary and coercive basis.

Professor Ryu Myung-soon of Seoul National University College of Medicine stated, "COVID-19 response is virtually impossible without medical professionals and quarantine teams nationwide who are responsible for quarantine and infectious disease treatment," adding "In preparation for extreme heat and a second wave of infections, it is urgent to develop measures to improve the treatment of these workers. This is a time when not only government support but also social solidarity from the entire public is necessary to ensure the safety of field response teams and to enable early response to mental and psychological risk signals."

Nevertheless, willingness to work on COVID-19 response was high. 83.4% answered they would continue their assigned work as long as the COVID-19 crisis continues, and 77.0% said they would continue their work regardless of how severe the COVID-19 situation becomes, both showing overwhelmingly high levels.

Meanwhile, when asked about infection risk at their current workplace, 50.1% of respondents—half of all respondents—reported that their current workplace is not safe from infection. When surveyed about their "infection possibility" and the "severity of infection consequences" including health impacts and damage from infection, 43.8% of the COVID-19 medical and quarantine response teams reported high infection probability (very high or high), and 68.1% believed the consequences such as health impacts and other damage from infection would be "severe."
In a COVID-19 risk perception survey of Gyeonggi Province residents announced on the 5th, 12.4% of respondents said the possibility of infection was high. This means the burden of infection among medical and quarantine response teams is approximately 3.5 times higher than that of the general public.

Lee Hee-young, director of the Gyeonggi Province Public Health and Medical Support Team, stated, "In the current situation where confirmed cases in the Seoul metropolitan area are increasing, the burden felt by many medical professionals and quarantine personnel will likely be even greater, and many diagnoses and tests will also place significant work burdens on quarantine personnel," adding "Further analysis will be necessary in the future, and we plan to conduct second and third surveys. We hope this survey result will be actively utilized as basic data for developing support measures for field response teams."

The Gyeonggi Province Public Health and Medical Support Team plans to conduct second and third surveys of medical professionals and field response teams jointly with Professor Ryu Myung-soon of Seoul National University College of Medicine, and Gyeonggi Province will develop practical support measures based on comprehensive final results.