People wear masks at the Chonnam National University Hospital in Gwangju, Friday, amid a resurgence of COVID-19. Yonhap

A Seoul-based office worker surnamed Kim, 34, recently tested positive for COVID-19 in a self-test but continued going to work, unlike the time she contracted the disease during the pandemic two years ago.

“Resting at home because you are infected with COVID-19 is unimaginable these days. You will be lucky to get sick leave or a day off without getting on your boss’ nerves,” Kim said.

This is because COVID-19’s alert level as an infectious disease has been lowered and the use of sick leave due to the infectious disease is no longer mandated.

Lee, a 41-year-old office worker residing in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, also tested positive a week ago but continued going to work despite suffering from the symptoms.

“We were banned from coming to the office during the pandemic so we could recover at home, but now that’s no longer true. I had to use my annual leave to take time off, so I had no choice but to endure in the office with a runny nose, cough and muscle aches,” he said.

Wearing a mask nowadays amid the heat wave is almost unbearable, he added, but he worried that he would infect others around him. So he endured and wore masks.

Another worker surnamed Park, 48, felt COVID-like 토토 symptoms like muscle pain and sore throat about two weeks ago, but did not undergo testing and just took cold medicine. “The symptoms were manageable that I could continue going to the office for work. I didn’t take the test, because if I tested positive, it would bother so many people around me. I still don’t know whether it was COVID-19 or just a cold,” he said.

As seen in these cases, most people with COVID-19 symptoms do not get tested, and those who are confirmed positive continue their daily routines without any self-isolation or other quarantine measures.

This is largely because of eased quarantine regulations that no longer oblige self-distancing, mask wearing and other measures that had been in effect during the peak of the pandemic.

And this situation is believed to be driving the rapid resurgence of the virus this summer.

One Reply to “Korea sees resurgence of COVID-19 in absence of obligatory quarantine rules”

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