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| A medical worker guides people for COVID-19 testing at a public health center in Seoul's Mapo District, Sunday. Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
The government is moving to expand home treatment for COVID-19 patients as part of measures to shift to the "living with COVID-19" phase next month, under which the social distancing measures stand to be eased and health authorities plan to focus more on managing critically ill patients rather than all cases.
The move comes amid a growing need for the country to be prepared for a "new normal" in which people might have to live with the permanent presence of the coronavirus while returning to their normal lives.
"As the country's vaccination program has been gaining speed, the number of critically ill patients and the fatality rate have decreased," Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, Friday.
"Considering these changes, the government will expand home treatment for COVID-19 patients in preparation for returning to normal life in phases."
So far, home treatment has been applied on a limited basis to minors and other virus patients displaying only minor symptoms or who are asymptomatic.
Home treatment will be expanded to patients under the age of 70 who do not require hospitalization. But those who live in places where they are likely to come into contact with others or those who have difficulties in using mobile apps, which will be used to manage patients undergoing home treatment, will be excluded.
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| People wait to see if they show any abnormal reactions after receiving COVID-19 vaccine shots at a vaccination center in Seoul's Seodaemun District, Thursday. Yonhap |
Seventeen cities and provinces have already set up their own plans to expand home treatment. According to these plans, the number of people who can be allowed to go through home treatment has considerably increased to 3,328 Friday from 1,517 tallied on Sept. 30. Among the 3,328, 97.1 percent live in the Seoul metropolitan area, including Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.
The authorities said that the Central Disaster Management Headquarters will keenly cooperate with local governments and medical institutions to establish an effective system for at-home treatment.
They said medical staff will consistently monitor the health condition of virus patients under home treatment, noting that 24-hour communication networks will be set up for cases of emergency. Ambulances will also be on standby.
"The public health authorities and medical staff should continue to pay keen attention to managing the health conditions of virus patients and their treatment, even after home treatment is expanded," Kim said. "Effective medical response systems should be established to ease people's concerns over expanding at-home treatment."
The government is aiming to shift to the "living with COVID-19" phase on and around Nov. 9, considering the fact that 70 percent of the entire population will have been fully vaccinated on or around Oct. 25, and it takes two weeks for antibodies to form following receipt of the second shot.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Sunday, 77.7 percent of people here have received at least their first shot as of Saturday, while 59.3 percent have been fully vaccinated.
But concerns are being raised as well, with the KDCA's expectation that daily new COVID-19 cases could explosively surge to about 5,000 after the government adopts this "living with COVID-19" strategy.
According to the KDCA, the country recorded 1,594 new COVID-19 cases for Saturday, including 1,560 local infections, raising the total caseload to 331,519.
