"To Prioritize Treatment for Critically Ill Patients" ... Strengthening Evaluation of COVID Bed Occupancy Appropriateness

Evaluation frequency changed from 4 times a week to daily
93% of one-stop medical institutions can prescribe oral antiviral treatments

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] As the number of severe COVID-19 patients continues to rise, the government has decided to further strengthen the appropriateness evaluation of severe beds to operate hospital beds more efficiently. The compliance period for discharge orders for hospitalized patients will also be shortened from 2 days to 1 day.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters announced on the 26th that it received a report from the Central Accident Response Headquarters on the "Strengthening Measures for Appropriateness Evaluation of COVID-19 Severe Beds" and discussed the matter accordingly.

The utilization rate of severe beds increased from 5.3% on the 1st of last month to 14.4% in mid-month, and this month it has continued to rise to 30.6% on the 1st, 40.1% on the 10th, and 45.8% on the 24th.

Accordingly, the government will conduct the appropriateness evaluation of severe beds, which is currently performed four times a week, daily starting from the 29th, and will reduce the compliance period for discharge of patients deemed inappropriate for admission from the current 2 days to 1 day. However, if the patient’s condition worsens after the discharge decision and severe bed care is still needed, continued hospitalization is possible through review of explanatory materials submitted by the medical institution.

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, explained, "In the past, the central government judged the admission approval for COVID-19 severe dedicated beds, but now each hospital is allowed to make this judgment independently. There are cases where patients with severity levels not corresponding to severe beds are admitted, so the system has been strengthened to manage this."

Son added, "More medical personnel are assigned to severe beds, and the fees provided through health insurance are also quite high," and he urged the medical community to actively cooperate for the efficient operation of COVID-19 dedicated beds amid the difficult situation of increasing severe patients.

Along with this, the government is establishing and managing a community medical response system through 'one-stop clinics' that conduct testing, diagnosis, and prescription of medication to prevent the health status of high-risk COVID-19 groups from becoming severe.

Following the first inspection of one-stop clinics from the 21st to 29th of last month, an additional inspection conducted from the 16th to 19th of this month confirmed that out of 3,590 clinics inspected, 3,353 clinics (93.4%) were performing all essential functions including respiratory patient care, COVID-19 diagnostic testing, oral antiviral prescription, and face-to-face treatment of confirmed cases.

Additionally, among the inspected clinics, 3,505 clinics (97.6%) had experience prescribing oral antiviral medications or were familiar with related procedures and information, and 74.5% (2,674 clinics) were aware of the status of nearby general isolation beds, enabling hospitalization linkage for high-risk groups when necessary. As of the 25th, a total of 10,019 COVID-19 one-stop clinics are operating nationwide.

The government explained, "During the inspection process, clinics that were not fully performing their functions as one-stop clinics were encouraged to carry out oral antiviral prescriptions and face-to-face treatment, and clinics unable to perform these functions were excluded from the one-stop clinic system."

Meanwhile, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced that it has expanded the number of medical institutions participating in surveillance, including screening clinics, to 150 to detect and respond early to new variant viruses since the emergence of Omicron. The time required for variant virus analysis has also been shortened from the previous 5-7 days to 1 day, and the number of institutions capable of analysis has been expanded to 18 local governments nationwide.

Regarding the BA.2.75 variant virus, known as the 'Centaurus variant,' a total of 76 cases have been detected domestically from its first confirmation on the 13th of last month through the 22nd of this month. However, BA.5 remains dominant in Korea, and considering overseas situations, it is predicted that the BA.2.75 variant is unlikely to become dominant domestically.

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