Nationwide PCR Testing for Nursing Hospital Workers Shortened from 2 Weeks to 1 Week... Tightly Managed

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] The government has decided to shorten the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing interval for workers at nursing hospitals nationwide, which are vulnerable facilities to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), from two weeks to one week to prevent cluster outbreaks.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (CDSCH) announced the 'Emergency Medical Response Plan for Nursing Hospitals' centered on this content during a regular briefing on the 3rd.

This decision comes in response to the recent surge in confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths at nursing hospitals, causing continuous damage. In December last year alone, 996 confirmed cases and 99 deaths were reported across 14 nursing hospitals nationwide.

The government has established phased measures including prevention, initial response, cohort isolation, patient transfer, and post-action. In particular, the PCR testing interval will be shortened from two weeks to one week for more thorough management. Until last year, the PCR testing interval for nursing hospital workers was one week in the metropolitan area and two weeks in non-metropolitan areas.

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