LOCAL GOVT HELP BUSINESSES RECOVER FROM STIGMA

[Anchor Lead]

The government has been disclosing where confirmed COVID-19 patients have been to prevent the spread of disease. But many businesses where the patients had visited still suffer from the stigma of COVID-19 even after the patients have recovered. One local government has therefore started a project to delete the movements of confirmed patients to help such businesses recover from the damage.

[Pkg]

​This store was visited by a confirmed COVID-19 patient for just three minutes in March. Three months have passed since then and the patient was discharged from hospital after recovering fully. But the store owner still suffers, because the store name and location were exposed on the internet.

[Soundbite] (STORE OWNER(VOICE MODIFIED)) : "People ask whether this is the store. I can't erase it. It's traumatic to think our information will be out there forever."

People can access store information when they search for COVID-19 movements online. This is why the government mandated in April that the movement information be concealed after two weeks since the last contact with a confirmed patient. But the problem is that the information, which is outdated, is still being circulated through social media. The Yongin city government has launched a team tasked with deleting personal information of COVID-19 patients.

[Soundbite] LEE JUNG-HAN(YONGIN CITY GOV'T OFFICIAL) : "The names of the stores where COVID-19 patients visited remain on social media and blogs several months later, leading to loss in revenue."

The team asks people who report cases to delete the information of the patient. If that person refuses, the city government will send an official notice to the Korea Internet and Security Agency and notify the person through a portal site. Internet portals and social media sites also need to voluntarily delete needless information to prevent secondary damage from COVID-19 and ensure patients' information does not linger.