South Korea: Coronavirus survivors battling social stigma, discrimination

The coronavirus pandemic has brought the issue to social stigma to the fore after reports of discrimination against people who recovered from COVID-19 surfaced. The rate of infection in South Korea has slowed down due to aggressive measures by the government but the recovered patients are battling the stigma of having the disease in the past.

According to media reports, the stigma against recovered patients has grown strong due to the root cause of mass infection in South Korea. The country witnessed a sudden spike in the number of coronavirus cases after the majority of patients were detected from the secretive and controversial religious sect in the city of Daegu. Due to the suspicion running deeper in the community, the recovered patients are forced to use stairs instead of elevators. Another reason for such isolation remains the possibility of relapse as there are people who tested positive for COVID-19 after complete recovery.

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Fear of unknown

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has often cautioned against the stigma around the contagious disease. The health agency said that the level of stigma associated with COVID-19 is based on several factors which include the fear of unknown and associating the fear with ‘others’. It said that the confusion, anxiety, and fear among the public is understandable but the factors are also fueling harmful stereotypes.

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The UN agency tried to address the issue of social stigma associated with COVID-19 because people are labelled, stereotyped, discriminated against, and treated separately due to the perceived link to the disease.  It added that the way we communicate about COVID-19 is critical in supporting people to take effective action to help combat the disease and to avoid fuelling fear and stigma.

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