In-Person Visits at Nursing Hospitals Suspended Again... 70 Temporary Screening Clinics Added (Update)

Jungdaebon Expands One-Stop Medical Institutions to 10,000 for 300,000 Confirmed Cases
940,000 Additional Treatment Doses Introduced... Diagnostic Kit Sales Allowed at All Convenience Stores

On the 19th, when 73,582 new COVID-19 cases were reported, marking the highest number in 83 days, citizens visiting the screening clinic set up at the Gangnam-gu Public Health Center in Seoul are waiting to get tested. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the spread of the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron is progressing faster than expected, the government has decided to secure an additional 4,000 dedicated COVID-19 hospital beds and suspend in-person visits at nursing hospitals and facilities. Temporary screening clinics, which had been reduced to only four nationwide, will also be expanded again.

Lee Ki-il, the 1st Chief Coordinator of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Vice Minister of Health and Welfare), announced additional measures at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held at the Government Seoul Office on the morning of the 20th, stating, "Due to the resurgence of COVID-19, the number of confirmed cases at the peak is expected to reach around 300,000."

First, the number of 'one-stop medical institutions' that can handle everything from COVID-19 diagnostic testing to treatment and prescription will be expanded from the current 6,500 to 10,000 within this month.

The initial plan to reactivate a total of 1,405 beds in preparation for 200,000 new daily confirmed cases has been revised to secure an additional 4,000 beds. To this end, the government issued administrative orders for 1,435 beds preemptively on the same day and will gradually reactivate beds according to bed occupancy rates.

Management of nursing hospitals and facilities, as well as psychiatric hospitals and facilities, will also be strengthened. All workers in these facilities will undergo weekly polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing, and in-person visits currently allowed will be replaced with non-contact visits to block external infection sources.

The 'fast track' system, currently applied to seniors aged 60 and over, immunocompromised individuals, and residents of nursing hospitals and facilities, will be expanded to include patients with underlying diseases and residents of psychiatric hospitals and facilities for the disabled, enabling rapid processing of diagnosis, prescription, and hospitalization within one day.

A total of 940,000 doses of COVID-19 therapeutics will be additionally introduced, including 340,000 doses in the second half of this year and 600,000 doses in the first half of next year.

Temporary screening clinics, which had been reduced to four nationwide as of the 18th, will be expanded again. Fifty-five temporary screening clinics will be installed and operated in the metropolitan area and 15 in non-metropolitan areas, with weekend testing also expanded to allow citizens easier access to testing.

Supply management of diagnostic kits will also be strengthened. A smartphone application will enable real-time monitoring of diagnostic kit inventory at convenience stores nationwide, and the requirement to register as a diagnostic kit seller will be temporarily waived until September 30, allowing all convenience stores to sell kits.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the number of confirmed cases at midnight on the same day was in the high 70,000s, nearly double compared to the previous week, marking the third consecutive week of doubling. The infection reproduction number remains above 1 at 1.58 since the last week of June.

Lee, the Chief Coordinator, declared, "COVID-19 is spreading and has entered the epidemic phase," adding, "The detection rate of the BA.5 variant was 52% last week, making BA.5 effectively the dominant strain."

However, Lee also explained, "The current medical capacity held by the government is manageable," noting, "The bed occupancy rate is 25.5%, leaving room; PCR testing can handle up to 850,000 tests per day; and the stock of oral therapeutics is sufficient at 773,000 doses, enough to supply even if 200,000 cases occur daily."

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