KMA "COVID-19 Critical Patients Should Be Released from Isolation After 20 Days, Immediate Review Needed"

On the 16th, medical staff are caring for a patient in the intensive care unit of Pakae Hospital, a COVID-19 dedicated hospital in Pyeongtaek-si, Gyeonggi-do. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The Korean Medical Association has requested an immediate reconsideration of the government's policy to effectively limit intensive care unit (ICU) treatment for COVID-19 critical patients to within 20 days.

On the 17th, the Medical Association's COVID-19 Countermeasures Expert Committee expressed "deep concern about the confusion the revised guidelines will cause in medical settings" through its "Recommendation on the Government's Change in ICU Isolation Release Criteria," and demanded that the government "immediately reconsider the ICU isolation release criteria."

Previously, the government announced that ICU hospitalization would be allowed for up to 20 days after symptom onset, and that isolation release would be permitted even for patients with underlying conditions. It also stated that hospitalization costs incurred after the isolation period would be transferred to the patient's personal responsibility.

In response, the Medical Association's COVID-19 Countermeasures Expert Committee said, "For COVID-19 critical patients, (ICU hospitalization) beyond 20 days means treatment in a general ICU," and urged the establishment of improvement measures for the COVID-19 critical patient isolation release guidelines, citing concerns about confusion in medical settings.

Through the recommendation, they pointed out that the isolation release criteria appear to adopt standards from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), but emphasized that the ICU medical environments in those regions differ significantly from Korea. Unlike the U.S. and Europe, where most ICUs consist of single rooms, Korea mainly has multi-bed rooms, and if some infectious critical patients are present, it could lead to institutional outbreaks, they warned.

They also stressed that the public must be properly informed that some COVID-19 critical patients released from isolation after 20 days may still carry infectiousness. The expert committee emphasized, "There is a risk of infection not only to ICU medical staff but also to non-COVID critical patients," and urged the government to "accurately inform the public that there could be fatal impacts on subsequent treatment processes."

The expert committee expressed concern that "under the current guidelines, general ICU beds may be occupied by COVID-19 critical patients released from isolation," which "could lead to restrictions in treatment for general critical patients." Currently, non-COVID critical patients are already waiting several days for ICU beds, and going forward, ICU admission may become practically impossible, potentially delaying general medical care such as surgeries and emergency treatments.

Finally, the expert committee recommended "immediate withdrawal of the ICU isolation release criteria or pilot application only to ICUs where isolation in single rooms is possible," and insisted that "reconsideration and supplementation should be conducted through sufficient discussions with the medical community." Regarding the transfer of hospitalization costs incurred after the COVID-19 isolation period to the patient's personal responsibility, they also urged policy reconsideration, stating, "Treatment and management of infectious diseases are the responsibility of the state," and "It is appropriate for the state to take responsibility for the treatment and management, including sequelae, of COVID-19 patients."

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