Thirty-three percent of people with Covid-19 symptoms do not get tested, according to a survey.
A research team of Seoul National University Graduate School of Public Health (SNU Health) said so Tuesday after surveying the perceptions of the Covid-19 crisis stage downgrade on 1,000 adults nationwide from June 23 to 26 with Hankook Research. Professor Yu Myeong-soon led the team.
Of the 135 respondents who recently experienced Covid-19 symptoms, 67.4 percent said they had received a test, 41.5 percent getting it at a hospital or clinic, and 25.9 percent taking a self-test. However, the other 32.6 percent said they had not been tested.
Regarding follow-up measures, 60.7 percent said they had been isolated due to Covid-19 symptoms, with 51.1 percent voluntarily quarantining and 9.6 percent involuntarily quarantining due to family, workplace, or school recommendations. The other 34.8 percent said they did not quarantine despite Covid-19 symptoms (29.6 percent of them voluntary and 5.2 percent involuntary). Other responses accounted for 4.4 percent.
Besides, 55.4 percent reported not paying attention to information about the status of the Covid-19 outbreak (new cases and deaths). Subgroup analysis showed that older adults, people with lower incomes, and those with children were likelier to pay attention to infection status information.
Overall, 84.4 percent of respondents agreed that masks should be required in hospital-level medical institutions and residential care facilities. Only 13.5 percent disagreed.
They made the reply whether they had visited hospitals or not.
Of the 375 respondents who had visited a hospital-level healthcare facility since June 1, when the Covid-19 crisis was downgraded from severe to alert, 85.3 percent agreed that masks should remain mandatory, while 13.3 percent disagreed.
On the other hand, among 69 who worked in these organizations, 69.6 percent agreed that masks should be required, with 30.4 percent disagreeing, slightly higher than the general population.
Concerning the mask mandate, 55.8 percent said it should be kept in place for now but lifted when the situation is stable. Those who wanted to keep it in place accounted for 31.0 percent, while 10.5 percent wanted it lifted as soon as possible.
Among those who work in organizations that require masks, 47.1 percent said, “Keep it for now, but lift it when the situation is stable,” 29.4 percent said, “Just keep it,” and 23.5 percent said, “Lift it as soon as possible.”
“Even though the Covid-19 crisis phase has been downgraded from severe to alert, it seems that people are still aware of the importance of checking whether they are infected with Covid-19,” Professor Yu said. “The shift to normalcy has led to changes in seeking Covid-19 information, awareness and behaviors,
The professor pointed out that a discrepancy occurred in the level of agreement among facility workers regarding the mandatory wearing of masks.
“Although facility workers accounted for only 7 percent of total respondents, it is necessary to consider these results and make efforts to improve the practicality and sustainability of infection prevention measures by listening to the opinions of the field,” Yu added.