Focused Management for 'Aged 60 and Above · High-Risk Groups'... Asymptomatic and Mild Cases to Self-Manage at Home

Home Treatment Management Centers Expanded to 650 Locations... Capable of Managing About 200,000 Patients
Twice-Daily Phone Monitoring for Patients Over 50 with Underlying Conditions
Self-Quarantine App Discontinued and Essential Outings Allowed for Cohabitating Family Members

On the afternoon of the 19th, medical staff at the Home Treatment Situation Room of Seongnam Medical Center in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, are conducting non-face-to-face consultations with COVID-19 home treatment patients. If the medical staff determine that Paxlovid administration is necessary through the non-face-to-face consultation, they can prescribe it to the patient. Pharmacies receiving the prescription prepare the medication and deliver it to the patient. 2022.01.19 Photo by Joint Press Corps

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the Omicron variant virus rapidly spreads and tens of thousands of COVID-19 cases are confirmed daily, health authorities have decided to shift to a home treatment approach focusing on high-risk groups such as patients aged 60 and over and those aged 50 and over with underlying conditions. The goal is to concentrate treatment capabilities on vulnerable groups to minimize severe cases and deaths. Direct government support for the lower-risk general patient group will effectively be discontinued.

Only High-Risk Groups Monitored by Phone During Home Treatment

According to the "Response Plan for the Rapid Increase of Omicron Cases" announced by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 7th, home treatment patients will be divided into two groups: a focused management group including those aged 60 and over, and a general management group. Health monitoring will be concentrated on the focused management group.

Accordingly, among home treatment patients, the focused management group?comprising those aged 60 and above, immunocompromised individuals, and patients in their 50s with underlying conditions eligible for oral COVID-19 treatments?will continue to have their health status monitored twice daily by phone through home treatment management medical institutions. In contrast, the general management group will self-monitor their health without regular check-ins and, if symptoms worsen or medical care is needed, can receive non-face-to-face treatment at local clinics or respiratory clinics designated for respiratory care, or face-to-face treatment at one of 55 COVID-19 outpatient treatment centers.

For pediatric and adolescent confirmed cases, in addition to non-face-to-face treatment at local clinics and face-to-face treatment at outpatient centers, they can receive non-face-to-face treatment from pediatricians at "Home Care Support Counseling Centers" autonomously operated by metropolitan local governments. These centers operate 24/7 using home treatment management medical institutions and public hospitals at the city/provincial level, and also provide nighttime medical consultations for the general management group. Basic medical consultations are provided here, and medications are prescribed if necessary. Prescribed medications after non-face-to-face treatment are, in principle, collected by cohabiting family members, but if collection is difficult, delivery support is provided by public health centers.

Currently, there are 532 home treatment management medical institutions, and authorities plan to increase this number to 650 by utilizing base dedicated hospitals. This expansion will enable management of approximately 200,000 home treatment patients. According to health authorities, this approach will increase home treatment management capacity by about seven times, allowing them to respond even if daily confirmed cases reach 210,000.

Home Treatment Kits Provided Only to Focused Management Group... Epidemiological Investigations to Be 'Self-Reported'

Distribution of home treatment kits including oxygen saturation meters, antipyretics, thermometers, and daily necessities will also be simplified. Home treatment kits will be supplied primarily to patients in the focused management group, such as those aged 60 and above, who are confirmed cases.

Pediatric kits will be provided by local governments upon parental request or when necessary. Additionally, guidelines have been revised to allow local governments to decide on the distribution of daily necessities based on local conditions. Personnel previously responsible for distributing kits and daily necessities will be reassigned to public health centers and home treatment-related quarantine tasks.

Health authorities also plan to expand outpatient treatment centers for COVID-19 patients who require face-to-face treatment or medical care due to conditions such as myocardial infarction, cerebral hemorrhage, dialysis, or childbirth. Currently, there are 55 outpatient treatment centers nationwide for COVID-19 patients, and this number will be increased to 112. Furthermore, additional medical departments will be added to infectious disease dedicated hospitals, and infrastructure such as delivery and dialysis beds for COVID-19 patients will be expanded.

The epidemiological investigation method will also change. Instead of investigations conducted by public health centers, confirmed cases will directly access a webpage to fill out a "self-reporting questionnaire" regarding contacts, and the investigation items will be simplified. This measure aims to improve the efficiency of basic epidemiological investigations amid the situation where tens of thousands of new confirmed cases occur daily.

Cohabiting Family Members Quarantined for Only One Week... Essential Outings Allowed

The quarantine method for confirmed cases and co-isolated persons will also be revised. From this day forward, the self-quarantine application (app) using GPS will be abolished. Confirmed cases and those in isolation will autonomously manage their quarantine without local government supervision.

Cohabiting family members, regardless of vaccination status, will co-isolate with the confirmed case for seven days and undergo one PCR test before release from quarantine; if negative, quarantine ends. Previously, unvaccinated cohabiting family members of confirmed cases had to quarantine for an additional seven days even after the confirmed case was released from isolation. This guideline has now been abolished. After release from quarantine, they must comply with lifestyle rules such as wearing KF94 masks at all times for three days and avoiding contact with high-risk groups and facilities. If a cohabiting family member tests positive during co-isolation, only the confirmed individual will quarantine for seven days without additional quarantine for other family members.

Additionally, cohabiting family members of home treatment patients are now allowed to go out for essential purposes such as visiting clinics, purchasing medications, and buying groceries while wearing masks and following quarantine guidelines.

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