Gyeonggi-do to Operate Dedicated 'Living Treatment Center' for Mild COVID-19 Patients Starting Next Week

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province will operate a 'Gyeonggi Province-type Living Treatment Center' for mild cases of 'Novel Coronavirus Infection' (COVID-19) as early as next week.

On the 13th, Gyeonggi Province announced that it plans to select and operate one Gyeonggi Province-type Living Treatment Center with a total of 200 rooms for mild patients and resident medical support personnel, with the cooperation of companies that have training facilities in the province.

The center will accommodate 100 mild patients on the principle of one person per room, but multi-person rooms will also be considered if necessary. In addition, the resident medical staff at the center will be provided by Seoul National University Bundang Hospital.

The operation will adopt a 'home replacement' method rather than the existing 'hospital replacement' type. The home replacement type is characterized by minimizing excessive medical resource input in a stable condition where medical treatment has been completed and the possibility of emergency situations is low.

The province will also provide psychological counseling services to address psychological issues that may arise after discharge when returning to daily life.

Im Seung-kwan, co-head of the Gyeonggi Province COVID-19 Emergency Countermeasures Team, said, "Gyeonggi Province plans to operate the Gyeonggi Province-type Living Treatment Center from next week, admitting confirmed patients who are in the recovery stage but do not yet meet discharge criteria." He explained, "This is a model that can be introduced when there is a surplus of secured beds compared to the number of confirmed cases."

The province has secured 245 beds at 14 hospitals, including nationally designated inpatient treatment hospitals, public medical institutions, and private tertiary hospitals. Available beds number 65.

Additionally, since the 2nd, the province has been implementing 'preventive cohort isolation' for two weeks at 1,824 facilities housing vulnerable groups such as elderly nursing hospitals and facilities for people with disabilities, and will also take administrative guidance measures regarding this.

Im said, "It is estimated that about 10 facilities in the province are undergoing cohort isolation," and emphasized, "Since this is being carried out with the intention of local governments protecting and paying attention to vulnerable groups, we will strengthen administrative guidance and do our best to prevent the spread of COVID-19."

Meanwhile, as of 10 a.m. on the 12th, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the province stands at 179.

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