CHANGES IN COVID-19 PATIENT RULES

[Anchor Lead]

From now on, those infected with COVID-19 are allowed to visit pharmacies in person to have their prescriptions filled out. To minimize the number of seriously ill COVID patients, doctors will visit patients at nursing facilities to provide health care services. Although the government is trying to transition the nation to normal life, it's taking a cautious stance with regard to declaring COVID-19 an endemic.

[Pkg]

A nursing home in Gyeonggi-do Province. A medical staff takes the temperature and checks the blood pressure of an 80-something year old patient who already recovered from COVID-19 and completed her quarantine.

[Soundbite] "Let me take your temperature. It's normal."

Nursing facilities have been prone to mass outbreaks lately. One of the patients at this nursing home developed a fever and began vomiting after contracting the virus, and eventually passed away because he wasn't transported to a hospital on time.

[Soundbite] Oh Sung-ae(Nurse) : "Some patients end up becoming seriously ill because it's too late to help them or because they cannot find the right hospital even when ambulances arrive. They have to visit multiple hospitals and travel far in the end."

Health authorities have decided to set up teams in charge of nursing facilities at 45 hospitals in a bid to reduce the number of seriously-ill COVID patients. Some 70 teams will visit assisted-living facilities in person to provide health care to the infected. Each team consists of one doctor and at least one nurse. They will be working in teams until the end of this month. From now on, COVID-19 patients receiving treatment at home are allowed to visit pharmacies in person themselves to retrieve their prescriptions. They can either bring their prescriptions firsthand or have their clinics send them to pharmacies via fax so that pharmacies can prepare the medicine in advance. To reduce the risk of contamination, health authorities have requested pharmacists to wear KF94 masks and set up separate spaces for the infected. However, some drug stores are concerned.

[Soundbite] Oh Seung-yu(Pharmacist) : "We do feel pressure because the virus is spreading rapidly now. From drug preparation to payment, everything is done through personal contact."

Korea added over 224,000 COVID-19 cases as of midnight Thursday, 61,000 fewer than the day before. Now that the number of Omicron cases are declining, the government is discussing a gradual return to normalcy. But it's stressing once more, this does not imply a transition to the endemic phase yet nor the halting of COVID-19 responses altogether.