NEW MEASURES TO PROTECT MEDICAL WORKERS

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It is important to prevent COVID-19 infections spreading in hospitals to reduce the damage to high-risk patients. Furthermore, medical staff must also be protected as any infections among them could put a large number of patients in danger. The government has therefore come up with additional measures to lower the risk of infection for healthcare professionals.

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​A doctor in Daegu who died of COVID-19 last Friday was known to have been infected after seeing a patient who was waiting for his COVID-19 test result. Sixty-six other healthcare workers got infected by taking care of patients. Three were infected at COVID-19 screening centers and 32 at the hospitals where cluster infections occurred. In total, 241 medical professionals were confirmed with COVID-19.

[Soundbite] KWON JUN-WOOK(CENTRAL QUARANTINE COUNTERMEASURES HEADQUARTERS) : "It's very important to stop the spread in medical facilities."

In order to prevent the spread of infection in medical facilities and among staff members, more measures to diagnosis patients without direct contact will be adopted. People with a simple cold or chronic illnesses like hypertension can get prescriptions over the phone or video call. Emergency patients with mild symptoms should first go to screening centers for tests before going to the emergency room. Patients with serious respiratory symptoms should be isolated in the emergency room to receive first aid and tests. Symptomatic patients must be tested before being admitted to the in-patient wards or intensive care units. The government is designing a set of contact movement guidelines that can be applied to treatment centers or infectious disease hospitals.

[Soundbite] YOON TAE-HO(CENTRAL ACCIDENT MANAGEMENT HEADQUARTERS) : "We plan to secure a safe zone that separates the traffic flow of patients and medical workers."

Quarantine authorities asked the public to refrain from visiting patients in hospitals and strictly follow the hospitals' infection prevention measures.