"Expected 170,000 Cases This Month... Focused Home Treatment for High-Risk Groups Only (Comprehensive)"

On the 7th, with 35,286 new COVID-19 cases reported, marking the third consecutive day of over 30,000 cases, citizens are taking rapid antigen tests at the screening clinic of Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] As health authorities predict that new COVID-19 cases could surge up to 170,000 by the end of this month, an Omicron-tailored quarantine and medical system focusing on preventing severe illness and death among high-risk groups will be implemented starting from the 7th.

To efficiently utilize limited resources, high-risk groups such as the elderly aged 60 and above and those eligible for oral antiviral prescriptions will be designated as 'intensive management groups' for home treatment, concentrating efforts on them, while general patients will be encouraged to manage their symptoms autonomously.

Expected 130,000 to 170,000 cases by month-end... Enduring through home treatment system reform

Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters (Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency), explained at the regular COVID-19 briefing that morning, "It is time to introduce a quarantine and medical management system that aligns with the characteristics of the Omicron variant," adding, "The basic direction is to focus on rapid diagnosis and treatment of high-risk groups and to streamline the diagnostic testing and epidemiological investigation management system to ensure the sustainability of the quarantine and medical system."

This system transition is due to the rapid increase in confirmed cases. Director Jung stated, "According to COVID-19 outbreak forecasts by the KDCA and various domestic and international experts, due to the highly transmissible Omicron variant, the number of confirmed cases in Korea is expected to reach between 130,000 and 170,000 by the end of February." The daily new confirmed cases recently surpassed 10,000 for the first time on January 26 (13,008 cases), then exceeded 20,000 on February 2 (20,268 cases) just a week later. The 30,000 mark was crossed on February 5 (36,346 cases), only three days later, and daily cases have remained above 30,000 for three consecutive days since then.

Given the rapid spread, the plan is to switch the response system to endure the situation. Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Accident Response Headquarters, said, "On average, about 100,000 confirmed cases per day are expected to occur for more than 20 days," adding, "If the home treatment system is smoothly reorganized to focus on high-risk groups through selection and concentration, it is judged that this level of confirmed cases can be adequately managed."

Home treatment focused on 'intensive management groups' such as the elderly and immunocompromised... General patients to 'self-manage'

A confirmed COVID-19 patient undergoing home treatment at an apartment in Yangcheon-gu, Seoul, is receiving a 'Home Treatment Kit' delivered by the Yangcheon-gu COVID-19 Home Treatment Task Force. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

Accordingly, home treatment will shift to a system focused on high-risk groups, while general patient management groups will perform self-management based on autonomy and cooperation. High-risk groups classified as 'intensive management groups' include those eligible for oral antiviral prescriptions: ▲elderly aged 60 and above ▲patients in their 50s with underlying conditions ▲immunocompromised individuals.

Currently, twice-daily telephone monitoring and the provision of home treatment kits, including oxygen saturation monitors, will be limited to these intensive management groups. The kit components will be simplified from the current seven items (▲oxygen saturation monitor ▲antipyretics ▲thermometer ▲disinfectant for cleaning ▲hand sanitizer ▲black plastic bags ▲cold medicine) to four items, excluding hand sanitizer, plastic bags, and cold medicine.

Asymptomatic or mild general patients will manage their symptoms autonomously without separate telephone monitoring. If necessary, they can receive consultations through non-face-to-face telemedicine at local clinics or the Home Care Support Counseling Center. Telemedicine will be provided free of charge. Lee Ki-il, the first controller of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, explained, "(For the general management group) telemedicine is available at any time, and if abnormalities occur, hospitalization will be arranged according to symptoms," adding, "The only difference is that they receive telemedicine while managing themselves, but outpatient care is no different from that of the intensive management group."

Isolation methods will also be significantly revised. As essential outings for cohabiting family members of home treatment patients to purchase daily necessities will be permitted, the provision of daily necessities to isolated individuals will be left to the discretion of local governments. Even if a cohabiting family member tests positive during shared isolation, only the infected individual will be isolated for seven days without additional isolation of other family members. The self-quarantine app using GPS will also be abolished.

The government plans to improve on-site personnel issues by converting existing related personnel into quarantine and home treatment staff through this system reform.

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