The government will open the clinical information of over 5,500 patients diagnosed with Covid-19 for researchers.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) said the information disclosure on Friday will help the government prepare for a second wave of the Covid-19 outbreak.

Korean medical professionals have accumulated the clinical and epidemiological information of Covid-19 patients through their dedication to fighting the unprecedented pandemic, under the leadership of the KCDC and the National Medical Center.

The patients’ clinical and epidemiological information includes basic information of anonymized confirmed patients, initial examination opinions upon admission, accompanying diseases and medical history, use of beds in negative pressure rooms and clinical severity, and general blood test results.

All information will be anonymized through a secure information disclosure system and disclosed to researchers transparently and fairly, the KCDC said.

From July, the KCDC also said it would add information such as underlying diseases and the use of medications through cooperation with the National Medical Center, the National Health Insurance Service, and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service.

“With the release of the clinical and epidemiologic information, I hope that many experts could produce lots of scientific evidence necessary for establishing quarantine measures,” KCDC Director Jung Eun-kyeong said.

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