Central Disease Control Headquarters Temporarily Operates COVID-19 Positive-Centered Surveillance System

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 31st that it will temporarily operate a COVID-19 positive case-centered surveillance system. This is to ensure effective monitoring and establishment of a sample surveillance system following the reclassification of COVID-19 as a Level 4 infectious disease.

The COVID-19 positive case surveillance system differs from the existing full surveillance system, which reports and aggregates daily, by designating regional surveillance institutions (527 locations) to report and aggregate once a week. It allows for detailed understanding of age- and region-specific incidence trends, which are not derived from the existing respiratory infectious disease sample surveillance system, and enables monitoring of variant virus epidemic patterns.

On the 23rd, the screening clinic set up at the Yongsan-gu Public Health Center in Seoul showed a quiet scene as the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced that it would lower the COVID-19 infectious disease classification from level 2 to level 4 starting on the 31st. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

To conduct a preliminary evaluation of the COVID-19 positive case surveillance system, the Central Disease Control Headquarters analyzed the nationwide COVID-19 confirmed case occurrence status and the number of confirmed cases reported by positive case surveillance institutions since January of this year, confirming a very consistent trend of increase and decrease between full surveillance and positive case surveillance institutions.

Meanwhile, after the transition to Level 4, COVID-19 virus surveillance will continue through the existing respiratory infectious disease sample surveillance system. In particular, to monitor trends in hospitalized patients and deaths due to COVID-19, the number of COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths will be calculated through domestic hospital-level medical institutions with 200 or more beds (220 locations) participating in respiratory infectious disease sample surveillance.

The data collected through the sample surveillance system will be systematically accumulated and analyzed, and the results will be regularly provided to surveillance institutions, related organizations and groups, and the public.

Ji Young-mi, head of the Central Disease Control Headquarters, stated, "Through continuous cooperation with sample surveillance participating medical institutions and local governments, we plan to expand the institutions of the respiratory infectious disease sample surveillance system by local governments and strengthen the existing integrated respiratory surveillance system to establish a surveillance system foundation capable of responding to infectious disease crisis situations."

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