A Korean physician suggested in a now-deleted Facebook post that those who have yet to contract COVID-19 do not have friends.
Vice President of the Korean Vaccine Society Ma Sang-hyuk wrote in a social media post on March 16 that, “The adults who have not yet been infected with COVID-19 are those who have interpersonal problems.”
After receiving backlash from Korean internet users, Ma deleted the post; however, it had already been screenshotted and widely shared across the internet.
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Ma has previously advocated for “living with” the virus and focusing on COVID-19 treatments rather than social distancing regulations.
The physician told local news outlets that his reference to “interpersonal problems” was intended to emphasize that contracting COVID-19 would be inevitable for those with relationships.
On Feb. 6, the Wall Street Journal reported on a tweet by Infectious Disease specialist Brenda Crabtree from Mexico, who made a similar comment to Ma’s, saying “If you don’t have friends infected right now, you don’t have friends.”
South Korea is currently experiencing daily COVID-19 case number increases that exceed 400,000 as deaths are reaching record highs.
