Due to the spread of Omicron’s COVID-19 mutation, up to 170,000 confirmed cases per day at the end of this month and it is expected that the medical system will be under load.
From the 9th, the quarantine and home treatment policies for families living together will also change. Among the family members living with the confirmed person, only those who are not vaccinated will be quarantined together for 7 days. Other families who have been quarantined as unvaccinated will be released from quarantine according to the first confirmed family.
In the case of home treatment for mild and asymptomatic patients, the focus is on high-risk groups, such as the elderly over the age of 60, who are prescribed an oral treatment. The low-risk group manages their health for 7 days without monitoring at the hospital or clinic, and then receives non-face-to-face treatment if their condition worsens.
The following is a summary of the main points of the Q&A session between Deputy Chief Kwon Deok-cheol and Director Sang-won Bang of the Epidemiological Investigation and Analysis Team.
-How will the epidemiological investigation of confirmed cases change from today?
“You will fill out the epidemiological investigation yourself. You will receive a self-reported electronic epidemiologic investigation report along with a notification from the public health center that you have been confirmed. Fill out this epidemiological survey and send it to the public health center for final confirmation. You can receive non-face-to-face treatment on your own by calling the hospital or pediatric department you normally attend without being assigned to a designated hospital. Treatment is available at a respiratory clinic or a local hospital or clinic, which is a designated medical institution for respiratory care.”
-Will the isolation method for the family members living together change when a confirmed person is confirmed?
“When the first confirmed case occurs, close contacts of the family living together will be uniformly quarantined. However, 14 to 90 days following the second vaccination or those who have completed the third vaccination are subject to passive monitoring and are not subject to joint family quarantine. The first confirmed person will be notified of quarantine only until the quarantine is lifted, and following that, they need to take self-care for regarding three days. It will be released according to the quarantine date of the first confirmed patient.”
-Who is the intensive care group for home treatment and the general management group?
“The elderly over 60 years of age, those with underlying diseases over 50 years of age, and those with weakened immune systems, etc. who are prescribed an oral treatment, are monitored by landline phone twice a day as an intensive care group for home treatment. The low-risk group is a general management group for home treatment, which is basically a method of self-management at home. However, if the condition worsens, it is possible to provide non-face-to-face treatment at any local hospital or clinic at any time. Non-face-to-face treatment is free of charge and you can get prescriptions from pharmacies. The difference from the Japanese system is that when something goes wrong, you receive non-face-to-face treatment from local hospitals and clinics, and you receive medicines according to them.”
-General managers may feel anxious regarding being neglected on their own.
“The general management group is asymptomatic and mild patients, so if you are not feeling well or have any questions, you can go to a local hospital for non-face-to-face treatment. If you have a sudden fever in the evening or if you have any other problems, you can call the home treatment counseling center installed in your city/province. Some places may be open from today, and I asked them to open until February 10 at the latest.”
– Will face-to-face treatment for COVID-19 be possible at local hospitals and clinics?
“If home-treated patients or their families need treatment for COVID-19 or non-coronavirus, face-to-face treatment is possible. The number of outpatient treatment centers will more than double from the current 55 to 112. In addition, emergency medical institutions and outpatient treatment centers that can treat special diseases such as childbirth and dialysis will be expanded.”
– Whether the confirmed person can go to the outpatient treatment center without contacting the public health center.
“From today, we plan to abolish the self-quarantine mobile application (app) equipped with a global positioning system (GPS). Face-to-face treatment is possible at the outpatient treatment center without having to report it to the public health center. However, the people’s voluntary freedom and responsibility are strongly demanded. There is no difference between the intensive management group and the general management group.”
– What should I do if I am not feeling well following being released from quarantine 7 days following the diagnosis?
“Once quarantine is lifted, normal local hospitals and clinics can be used. You can get counseling through non-face-to-face treatment, and in case of an emergency, you can call 911 for emergency transportation.”
– The reason for changing the epidemiological investigation, isolation, and treatment methods.
“Compared to the delta mutation, Omicron has a higher transmission power, and has a lower severity and lower fatality rate. Because of this, there are many asymptomatic and mild cases, and it is expected that the number will continue to increase in the future. Considering the characteristics of Omicron and the workload of public health centers, it is time to reorganize the quarantine and medical system in cooperation with the government and the private sector while focusing on preventing severe and death of high-risk groups. This is to prevent severe and fatal damage to high-risk groups by efficiently using limited resources. The general management group, which has a low risk, is switched to a routine level of response system to minimize inconvenience to the public and also aims to reduce the social burden caused by the Omicron epidemic.”
[세종=뉴시스]
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