Those who haven’t had Covid yet probably have no friends, says South Korean doctor

If you haven’t had COVID-19 that means you don’t have friends, a doctor from South Korea has claimed, inviting ridicule and criticism from people.

Ma Sang-hyuk, the vice-president of Korean Vaccine Society, made these comments in a Facebook post, which was widely shared on social media.

“The adults who have not yet been infected with COVID-19 are those who have interpersonal problems,” he said.

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The doctor reportedly deleted the post on March 16, claiming his words were meant to be ‘metaphorical’ and had been misunderstood, news site Daily reports.

“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,” he was quoted as saying.

The remarks were made on the day South Korea recorded 400,741 new Covid cases.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KCDA) warned that the Omicron variant is driving the record wave of infections.

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.

However, as of March 27, the daily cases have come down considerably since then, with health officials in the country believing that Omicron may have peaked in South Korea.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the country recorded 318,130 COVID-19 infections during the 24 hours of Saturday, staying below 400,000 for the fourth consecutive day.

The country’s daily COVID-19 cases have been decreasing since Tuesday, when the figure surpassed 490,000 cases during the 24-hour period that day, The Korean Herald newspaper reported.

(With inputs from agencies)