Due to the Surge in COVID-19 Patients... Hospitals with Negative Pressure Beds See 120% Floor Area Ratio Relaxation

A confirmed COVID-19 patient arriving at the dedicated hospital in Sejong is being transferred to a negative pressure ward. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Hospitals installing negative pressure beds will have their floor area ratio (FAR) relaxed by 120% going forward.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the "National Land Planning and Utilization Act," which improves urban planning regulations to rapidly expand negative pressure beds for treating severe COVID-19 patients, was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 25th.

Negative pressure rooms refer to isolation rooms where the air pressure inside the room is kept lower than outside to prevent pathogens from leaking out. As the number of severe COVID-19 patients increased and negative pressure beds became insufficient, the government formed an inter-agency task force (TF) to devise plans for expanding bed capacity.

Through this amendment, hospitals installing negative pressure beds will have their floor area ratio relaxed up to 120% of the statutory limit in the Enforcement Decree. Currently, the floor area ratio is restricted by local governments through ordinances within the limits set by the National Land Planning Act Enforcement Decree, and benefits are only granted when constructing rental housing, etc.

Benefits to the floor area ratio will be granted not only for expanding negative pressure beds but also for converting existing general beds into negative pressure beds and for negative pressure beds installed since 2020 in response to COVID-19.

Additionally, while the current National Land Planning Act generally prohibits development activities unrelated to facility projects on urban planning facility sites except for installations such as solar energy equipment, the installation of temporary buildings for disaster recovery, such as during the COVID-19 situation, will now be permitted. Accordingly, university hospitals will be able to quickly install modular negative pressure beds temporarily in available spaces within university campuses adjacent to hospital sites.

The amendment will take effect immediately upon its promulgation at the end of this month.

Yoon Euishik, Director of the Urban Policy Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "This amendment is a case where we actively improved the system within an unprecedented one month after identifying difficulties faced by the medical community," adding, "We expect that this system improvement will contribute to the expansion of negative pressure beds and the treatment of COVID-19 patients."

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