NEW COVID-19 CASES HIT RECORD 7,175

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The country reported 7,175 new cases today, exceeding the 7,000 mark for the first time. The government has decided to implement a modified patient-oriented home treatment program to handle more patients and sustain the current medical response capacity.

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At the COVID-19 countermeasures meeting held at the Gyeonggi-do Provincial Office today, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum announced that more than 7,000 new cases were reported in just a single day. As of midnight today, a record 7,175 cases were confirmed. Prime Minister Kim said that the virus is spreading fast, quickly draining medical response capacity.

[Soundbite] Kim Boo-kyum(Prime Minister) : "In the capital region where 80% of cases are concentrated, it is hard to catch up with the case increase although medical institutions are fully cooperating to steadily increase the number of beds."

The government subsequently decided to modify the current home treatment program to a patient-oriented one in order to sustain the medical response system. First, supervision of family members or co-habitants isolated together with patients treated at home will be shortened from ten days to seven. Living subsidies will be paid in proportion to the number of household members in order to minimize the inconveniences and financial burden caused by the home treatment program. Moreover, the emergency transport system will be expanded to relieve patients’ anxiety during treatment and more medical services such as short-term outpatient diagnosis and mental health support will be provided. The prime minister added that from early next year orally administered medication will also be prescribed to high-risk patients treated at home. The support system for home treatment will be further reinforced by including not only hospitals but also clinics in the scope of medical institutions that oversee at-home patients. He also said that it is urgent to administer 3rd shots to the elderly and basic doses to adolescents to control the spread. Subsequently, he instructed health and education authorities to provide a wide range of conveniences to senior citizens during vaccination and to administer vaccine shots at school for teenagers.