People who haven't caught Covid yet have 'no friends', says Korean doctor

Dr Ma Sang-hyuk, who is the vice president of the Korean Vaccine Society, made the comments on Facebook.

"The adults who have not yet been infected with COVID-19 are those who have interpersonal problems," he wrote on March 16th according to The Korea Herald.

Following backlash, he deleted the post, but it was screenshot and posted across the internet.

Speaking to New Daily, he said that his comments were meant to be “metaphorical.”

"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.

His comments came as COVID-19 case numbers exceeded 400,000 and critical patients and deaths were hitting record highs in South Korea.

Their total case numbers surpassed 10 million this week, which is equivalent to approximately 20 pc of the population.

According to Reuters the country's funeral parlours and crematoriums are being overwhelmed with Covid-19 related deaths.