| A healthcare worker speaks with a COVID-19 patient over the phone at Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Anseong Hospital, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Lee Hyo-jin |
By Lee Hyo-jin
ANSEONG, Gyeonggi Province ― "How are you feeling today? Are you still coughing badly?" asks a hospital nurse who is on the phone with a COVID-19 patient at home.
The nurse went on to ask, "If the pills you took aren't working, you can either get prescription medicine after a face-to-face consultation with a doctor here, or you can ask your family to buy over-the-counter medicine. Would you like to schedule an appointment with the doctor?"
On Tuesday morning, healthcare workers, wearing headsets with microphones at an office on the second floor of Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Anseong Hospital, were busy speaking via phone with coronavirus patients.
The province-run hospital is the only medical institution providing care for coronavirus patients in Anseong, a satellite city home to about 200,000 people, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul.
A 24-hour medical team, consisting of 19 nurses and five doctors, monitors patients in home treatment through two phone calls each day and a mobile app.
At a contactless outpatient clinic on the first floor of the hospital, Jeong Hyeon-ju, an internal medicine specialist, was seeing COVID-19 patients through protective glass, using an intercom system.
Showing a chest X-ray on his monitor, he told one patient, "Do you see the cloudy area here? This seems to be the cause of your breathing difficulties. It doesn't seem so serious now, but if your symptoms worsen, we can arrange for you to get hospitalized."
| Jeong Hyeon-ju, an internal medical specialist at Gyeonggi Provincial Medical Center Anseong Hospital, consults with a COVID-19 patient at a contactless outpatient clinic in the hospital, Jan. 25. Korea Times photo by Lee Hyo-jin |
"We receive about five outpatients a day whose symptoms have deteriorated while undergoing home treatment," Jeong told the reporters during a tour of the hospital's facilities.
He added that Paxlovid, Pfizer's oral antiviral pill, which was introduced into the country on Jan. 14, has been prescribed to three patients so far.
Home treatment becomes the default as Omicron cases surge
As Korea continues to see record-breaking numbers of infections driven up by the spread of the Omicron variant, the government is seeking to shift its strategy from focusing on hospitalization to home treatment.
After it was introduced in October of last year, home-based treatment for COVID-19 patients has increasingly replaced hospitalization, which is now reserved only for patients with chronic illnesses and those aged 65 and over, who are at risk of falling into critical condition.
"Home treatment is crucial at this point of time when the Omicron variant is expected to put a strain on hospitals," said Kim Seung-il, the head of the home treatment management team at the health ministry.
In the fourth week of January, 69 percent of patients were receiving home care, and the government is seeking to increase the proportion to 90 percent in the near future.
By early February, the government also plans to increase the number of hospitals dedicated to home care to 400 nationwide from the current 369, and to secure 40 more outpatient clinics, bringing the total up to 91.
Explaining how the current home treatment system operates, Kim said, "Once a person tests positive for COVID-19, he or she is contacted by officials at the local public health center, who collect basic information from the patient via phone calls."
The information will then be handed over to the Central Disease Management Headquarters at the health ministry. Ministry officials contact the patient for an initial evaluation to determine his or her eligibility for home treatment depending on current symptoms and any underlying health conditions.
The patient will then be matched with a healthcare worker at a medical institution, who then monitors the patient two or three times per day for the next seven days.
The local government provides patients with home kits, which include a thermometer, an oximeter, medicine, diagnostic test kits and other protective equipment, as well as food and water.
| This photo shows a sample of a home kit provided by Anseong public health centers to COVID-19 patients undergoing home treatment. Korea Times photo by Lee Hyo-jin |
In an attempt to manage the home care system more efficiently, beginning from Jan. 26, the government cut down the mandatory isolation period to seven days from the previous 10 days. Previously, patients had to isolate for three additional days after having their health condition monitored for seven days.
The health ministry is also considering reducing the number of phone call monitoring sessions to one or two times per day, from the current two to three times.
Lim Seung-gwan, the director of Anseong Hospital, said, "Bracing for the Omicron wave, we should change our mindsets about home treatment."
He added, "Until now, the government has been providing equal care for every patient. But to contain the Omicron spread with limited resources, the administration should shift its focus to the most vulnerable groups, while asking the private sector and local clinics to care for less urgent patients."