Coronavirus: South Korea to limit information about patients

South Korea plans to limit amount of information it releases about coronavirus patients amid criticism that details currently shared reveal too much personal information and exacerbate panic.

director of South Korea's Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, Jung Eun-kyeong, on Friday said her ncy is drafting a new guideline for local governments to prevent m from releasing details that are unnecessary for quarantine and prevention work.

She didn't say what specific recommendations would be included in guideline.

South Korean health authorities have been actively using personal information — including immigration, public transportation, credit card and smartphone GPS data — to track patients and ir contacts.

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Details about places patients visited before testing positive are posted online and shared through smartphone alerts to inform people who may have been in ir vicinity.

South Korea's Human Rights Commission on Monday raised concerns about release of data, saying patients were being exposed to "criticism, ridicule and hate".

Some people have used information to identify patients and have publicly condemned m for moving around while sick. re are concerns that release of detailed information is worsening panic and discouraging sick people from coming forward.

A recent survey by Seoul National University's Gruate School of Public Health found that many people were more afraid of being stigmatised as a virus patient than of catching virus itself. 

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