Confirmed Diagnosis by Expert-Only Rapid Antigen Test Starting from the 14th

Confirmed Cases Aged 60 and Over Receive Treatment Prescriptions Directly at Testing Hospitals
Mild In-Hospital Confirmed Cases Can Be Treated in General Wards

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is speaking while presiding over the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting for COVID-19 response held at the Government Seoul Office in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 11th. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporters Son Seon-hee and Ki Ha-young] Starting from the 14th, COVID-19 positive diagnoses at hospitals will be confirmed solely through professional rapid antigen tests. Patients aged 60 and above who test positive will be able to receive prescriptions for treatment immediately at the hospital where they were tested.

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum stated at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting on the 11th, "From next week, results from professional rapid antigen tests conducted at medical institutions will be recognized without the need for additional PCR tests," adding, "This will enable truly rapid diagnosis and allow us to proactively block further infections."

Currently, even if a professional or self-administered rapid antigen test is positive, confirmation requires a positive result from a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test. However, with daily new cases exceeding 300,000, PCR testing capacity has reached its limit. On the 8th, following the 1st, the number of PCR tests exceeded one million.

The maximum daily PCR testing capacity initially announced by health authorities was approximately 800,000 to 850,000 tests. Surpassing this capacity results in the time from testing to confirmation notification exceeding 24 hours. The COVID-19 confirmation process itself has taken 2 to 3 days, leading to criticism regarding the risk of additional infections and delayed prompt treatment after symptom onset. Therefore, the COVID-19 diagnostic system has been restructured to allow confirmation based solely on professional rapid antigen tests and enable early treatment.

Additionally, starting next week, mild in-hospital COVID-19 patients will be able to receive treatment in general wards without negative pressure facilities. Infection prevention management guidelines for medical institutions reflecting this change have already been revised. This measure was introduced as an alternative due to the surge in confirmed cases and the increasing number of patients with underlying conditions such as cancer and cardiovascular diseases, which has led to bed shortages despite mild COVID-19 symptoms.

Prime Minister Kim said, "Omicron is expected to reach its peak within about ten days," and "The scale is projected to reach up to 370,000 cases per day on a weekly average basis."

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