"Emergency Room Visits with Prioritized Treatment... COVID-19 Testing Only When Necessary"

On the 3rd, the screening clinic set up at Yongsan-gu Public Health Center in Seoul showed a quiet scene as 12,150 new COVID-19 cases were reported, marking the lowest Monday count in 13 weeks. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The government has decided to change the COVID-19 testing protocol for emergency room visits from a preemptive testing approach to a priority treatment first, followed by testing if necessary.

Cho Gyu-hong, the first deputy head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, stated in his opening remarks on the 12th, "Today, the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting will discuss revising the infectious disease response guidelines for emergency rooms and strengthening quarantine management at homeless shelters."

Deputy Head Cho said, "When patients visit the emergency room, the principle is to prioritize treatment first, and only conduct PCR or rapid antigen tests if deemed necessary by medical staff." Until now, the government has required COVID-19 PCR or rapid antigen tests before emergency room treatment to prevent infections within the emergency room.

Use of isolation beds will be made more efficient. Deputy Head Cho explained, "Confirmed cases will be treated in single isolation beds, while suspected patients who were previously treated in single isolation beds will now be treated in general beds to optimize emergency room bed usage."

Deputy Head Cho also said that infection control for the homeless will be strengthened. Accordingly, support will be provided for facility renovations and reinforcements to create isolation spaces within homeless shelters. Additionally, if a staff member at a homeless facility tests positive, replacement personnel will be deployed promptly.

Deputy Head Cho expressed concern about the increase in flu patients despite the stable COVID-19 quarantine situation. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the number of new COVID-19 cases remained in the 30,000 range for the third consecutive week, with 30,500 cases reported that day.

The number of flu patients increased significantly within a week. Deputy Head Cho said, "In the last week of September, the number of suspected flu cases was 7.1 per 1,000 people, a 44.9% increase compared to the previous week." He added, "Especially among infants and young children, suspected flu cases rose to 12.1 per 1,000 people, up 53.1% from 7.9 the previous week, the highest among all age groups." He concluded, "The government will prepare more thoroughly for the simultaneous outbreak of COVID-19 and flu during the winter season."

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