People who haven’t had Covid yet probably have no friends, a Korean doctor says

Doctor later deleted comments following backlash

South Korea has seen a new wave of Covid driven by the Omicron variant, the nation’s disease control agency said (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A South Korean doctor has faced a backlash after suggesting people who are yet to catch Covid-19 probably do not have friends.

“The adults who have not yet been infected with Covid-19 are those who have interpersonal problems," Ma Sang-hyuk, who is vice-president of the Korean Vaccine Society, wrote on Facebook.

He reportedly deleted the 16 March post following the backlash before saying that the remark was only metaphorical and there had been a misunderstanding.

In an interview with South Korean news site Daily, he said: “It emphasized how difficult it is for anyone to avoid the virus in a situation where there is a high rate of confirmed cases in the area.”

A traveler arrives to enter into a Covid-19 testing center at the Incheon International Airport In Incheon (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

On the day the doctor made his comments South Korea recorded 400,741 new Covid cases while the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KCDA) warned that the Omicron variant is driving the record wave of infections.

Despite the numbers, the government shows no sign of rethinking plans to remove almost all social distancing restrictions in coming days and weeks, and public opinion appears to support those moves.

Nearly 63 per cent of the country's 52 million residents had received booster shots, with 86.6 per cent of the population fully vaccinated, the KDCA said.

People receive the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 coronavirus vaccine at a vaccination center in Seoul (Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A government analysis of some 141,000 Omicron cases reported in the country over the past year showed that there were no deaths among people under 60 who had received a booster shot, Son Young-rae, a health ministry official, said, adding that Covid could be treated like the seasonal flu.

“We see this could be the last major crisis in our Covid responses, and if we overcome this crisis, it would bring us nearer to normal lives,” Mr Young-rae told a briefing.