Please report violation of public interest related to COVID-19 such as patient refusing hospitalized treatment

- To prevent the spread of the COVID-19, public interest reports of false statement during epidemiology investigations or not following quarantine measures will be processed first -

March 6, 2020

Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission

The Republic of Korea

In order to stop the spread of the COVID-19, pubic interest whistleblowing reports on infected people refusing inpatient treatment, or people making false statement during epidemiology investigations will be processed first.

To stop the spread of the COVID-19 infection, the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (Chairperson Pak Un Jong, ACRC) will swiftly process public interest violation reports accusing the violation of Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, Quarantine Act, and Medical Service Act, etc. when it receives such report.

Acts of public interest violation refer to the ones that threaten public health and safety, the environment, consumer interests, fair competition, and other public interest equivalent thereto and therefore are subject to penal provisions of the applicable laws (284 Acts) under Public Interest Whistleblower Protection Act, or administrative dispositions by Presidential Decree. Anyone can report such acts to the ACRC, etc.

Among the 284 Acts above, Occupational Safety and Health Act, Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, Quarantine Act, Medical Service Act, Price Stabilization Act, Mother and Child Health Act, Occupational Act and Health Act, Child Care Act, and Emergency Medical Service Act are related to the prevention of the spread of the COVID-19. Acts violating them are subject to public interest whistleblowing.

Examples of subjects to public interest whistleblowing report are: refusal of inpatient treatment after infected with the COVID-19, a first-grade contagious disease; an act of making false statement or intentionally omitting or hiding information during epidemiological investigation; travelers not reporting that they came from or transferred in China; an act of not following quarantine measures such as lockdown; or child-care facilities not following shutdown orders imposed due to the risk of infection.

Public interest whistleblowers can be protected by ACRC’s confidentiality measure, protection measure, physical protection measure, and prohibition of disadvantage measure. Using proxy reporting system, they can also file a report by a lawyer’s name, not by their name.

Chairperson Pak Un Jong said, “with public interest whistleblowing report on the COVID-19, I believe that the COVID-19 outbreak could be tackled in the near future. The ACRC will make its utmost to process public interest whistleblowing reports and protect whistleblowers.”