Reorganization of the Quarantine System Is Inevitable... Expanding Quarantine Is Not Easy

Changes in Medical Guidelines to Allow Testing Without Traveling to China
Testing to Increase to 2,000 Cases Starting Tomorrow, but Meeting All Demand Remains Difficult
Quarantine for Chinese Passengers Alone Takes 2-3 Hours... "Capacity Limits to Extend Measures to Other Countries"

The novel coronavirus diagnostic reagent kits, which were granted emergency use authorization by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on the 4th, will be supplied to about 50 hospitals designated by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency starting from the 7th. The photo shows the novel coronavirus diagnostic reagent kit approved for emergency use.

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] As the transmission pattern of the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan pneumonia) in Korea shifts from China to third countries or community infections, a reorganization of the existing China-centered quarantine system has become inevitable. Starting from the 7th, according to the newly applied case definition for novel coronavirus, the quarantine system will be expanded to include testing for infection even after traveling to places other than China.

However, as infection routes become increasingly complex and it takes considerable time to identify contacts, there are concerns about whether the quarantine authorities can implement proactive measures as promised. The authorities are also negative about calls to broadly expand quarantine to those entering from regions outside China, citing that the personnel involved in quarantine efforts have already exceeded critical limits.

◆Increasing Tests to 2,000 per Day, but...

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said in his opening remarks at the Central Accident Response Headquarters meeting on the 6th, "Considering that the novel coronavirus is highly contagious even in mild cases and is spreading not only in China but also in many countries worldwide, it is urgent to establish a meticulous quarantine network covering the entire community, not just blocking domestic inflow." This statement indicates an intention to expand the scope of novel coronavirus testing, which has so far been limited due to equipment and personnel constraints.

Currently, testing is mainly conducted on patients who have traveled to China, but with the recent confirmation of patients presumed infected in Singapore (patients 17 and 19), as well as diverse infection origins such as Japan (patient 12) and Thailand (patient 16), the authorities are reviewing incorporating these changes into the case definition effective from the 7th. The case definition is a kind of guideline applied when frontline medical institutions or screening clinics treat patients.

Jung Eun-kyung, Director of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said at a briefing the day before, "Some patients did not meet the case definition because they had not traveled to China, and as a result, even when testing was requested, it was not conducted. To address this issue, we will revise the case definition and allow testing based on the doctor's discretion and the severity of the patient's condition."

Passengers from a flight arriving from China entered the exclusive arrival hall through Terminal 1 of Incheon International Airport on the 5th.
Yeongjongdo - Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

◆Health Authorities Negative on Expanding Quarantine to Third Countries

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters, until last month, each test took about 24 hours. However, with the development of a new testing method (RT-PCR test), the testing time has been reduced to about 6 hours and has been applied since the end of last month. Currently, about 160 tests are conducted daily at the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and 18 provincial health and environment research institutes equipped with testing equipment and personnel. Recently, in collaboration with the Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and private companies, diagnostic reagent development was completed, and from the 7th, testing will be available at about 50 medical institutions nationwide. Accordingly, the authorities plan to process about 2,000 tests per day.

However, as additional confirmed cases continue to emerge, the number of contacts is expected to increase sharply, and there are concerns that simply increasing testing capacity still leaves gaps. Expanding testing itself is largely a reactive measure. This is also a concern for the health authorities. Kim Kang-lip, Vice Minister of Health and Welfare, said, "Even if testing volume increases, there are limits to meeting all testing demands," and mentioned the need for additional measures.

As of the day before, 956 contacts of confirmed novel coronavirus patients have been identified (based on cumulative patients 1 to 16; patients 17 to 23 are under investigation), and this number is likely to increase. Especially recently, cases have been reported both domestically and internationally where patients were confirmed positive with mild or no symptoms, making it difficult to identify infection routes. Additionally, there have been cases where initial tests were negative but subsequent tests were positive, indicating diverse outbreak patterns, which is a challenge for the authorities.

Passengers from a flight arriving from China on the 5th pass through a dedicated immigration area at Incheon International Airport Terminal 1, where their domestic contact information is being verified. / Yeongjongdo - Photo by Kim Hyunmin kimhyun81@

The authorities are negative about expanding the China-centered quarantine system to other countries. Although many confirmed domestic cases are presumed to have been infected outside China?in countries such as Japan, Thailand, and Singapore?the authorities judge that the scale is not yet widespread. Director Jung said, "It is beyond our capacity to classify all countries with about 20 confirmed patients as high-risk countries and apply measures equivalent to those for China."

Currently, except for Hubei Province, which is locked down and inaccessible, all regions in China are designated as contaminated areas, and all passengers undergo one-on-one quarantine procedures. Although additional personnel support has been received from the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of National Defense, physical limits have been reached, and it is reported that the entry process can take 2 to 3 hours. The authorities remain negative about proposals to ban entry from all of China.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.