MORE HOSPITALS TO TREAT COVID-19 PATIENTS

[Anchor Lead]

The number of people receiving at-home treatment from COVID-19 has topped 1.7 million. The government will designate more hospitals to treat non-hospitalized patients' other illnesses unrelated to COVID-19 in-person, but it remains to be seen how effective the move will be.

[Pkg]

A man whose son recently contracted COVID-19 had a nerve-wracking experience. Two days after being diagnosed with the virus, his son developed a high fever and had difficulty breathing, but it took them more than four hours to find a hospital that would agree to admit the boy.

[Soundbite] (Suwon resident) : "Some hospitals did not answer the phone, others refused to admit us. I called the clinics that were said to provide treatment at night, but they turned us down."

Currently there are only 279 clinics and hospitals nationwide that provide in-person treatment to non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients. That's not enough to handle some 1.7 million infected people. Plus, all those clinics specialize in respiratory illnesses only. The government decided to designate more hospitals including orthopedic and traditional medicine clinics to provide in-person care to coronavirus patients receiving treatment at home. Authorities have also simplified the designation procedure. Hospitals can immediately obtain approval upon submitting their applications without any screening procedures.

[Soundbite] Park Hyang(Central Disaster Management HQs) : "Hospitals and clinics that provide COVID-19 treatment will be allowed to charge health insurance fees."

Health workers agree with the measure, but they say more needs to be done.

[Soundbite] Park Soo-hyun(Korean Medical Association) : "It would be difficult for clinics to apply because of the lack of first aid needed in case of emergency or because of the risk of infections spreading inside the clinics."

The government is also discussing with experts whether to downgrade COVID-19 to a less threatening infectious disease by promoting in-person health care for the infected.