A South Korean doctor has come under fire after he suggested people who haven't yet caught Covid-19 probably don't have any friends.
“The adults who have not yet been infected with Covid-19 are those who have interpersonal problems," Korean Vaccine Society vice-president Ma Sang-hyuk wrote on Facebook.
He deleted the post shortly afterwards because he copped some serious backlash. He has since insisted he wasn't being serious about the remarks.
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He said he meant it metaphorically and his words had been misunderstood.
“It emphasised 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 said an interview with South Korean news site Daily.
Although he removed his comments, the post had already gone viral. Many people who reacted to the post insisted that their lifestyle or friendship circles weren't the big factor in their ability to catch coronavirus.
One person wrote on Facebook: “I have no great interest in socialising. Even less now. It doesn’t necessarily mean it is an interpersonal problem.
"It’s just a preference to do your own thing.”
Others said they had simply been fortunate to dodge Covid-19.
A user said: “I have been a direct contact to about a dozen people for the past three weeks and I feel lucky I haven’t gotten it."
One Twitter user leaned into the absurd comment by saying they still 'contracted Covid' despite having no friends.
A different person added: "I knew being a miserable git would pay off one day."
A third wrote: "Has everyone [forgotten] about the one friend we all have? Our immune system."
One took his comments quite personally, pointing out that 'many of us have spent the last two years apart from our friends so as not to catch it'.
On the day Ma Sang-hyuk made his controversial comments, South Korea recorded 400,741 new Covid cases.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KCDA) also handed down a warning that the Omicron variant was driving a record wave of infections.
Nearly 63 per cent of the country's 52 million residents had received Covid-19 booster shots, with more than 86 per cent of the population fully vaccinated.
The doctor's comments come as a new variant called BA-2 has been found in Europe, the UK and US. Experts say this subvariant is hard to detect and it's believed to be as infectious as the measles.
So, now is the perfect time to be a Nigel No Friends.
Topics: News, Coronavirus
Rachel Lang