Nursing home visits stopped as virus wave grows

Workers put up a notice of a suspension of face-to-face meetings at a nursing home in Gwangju on Wednesday amid the resurgence of Covid-19. [YONHAP]

Bracing for a surge of up to 300,000 new Covid-19 cases a day, health authorities on Wednesday announced additional containment measures such as new testing centers and reimposing a ban on face-to-face meetings with patients in nursing homes.

A week ago, the government widened the eligibility for fourth doses of coronavirus vaccines and antiviral drugs after cases rose dramatically. With the highly transmissible BA.5 variant spreading faster than expected, authorities announced additional measures Wednesday.

“The number of daily confirmed cases is expected to peak at 300,000,” said Lee Ki-il, second vice minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, during a virus meeting on Wednesday, which was up from last week’s prediction of 200,000 daily infections.

“The detection rate of the BA.5 variant was 52 percent last week, so we can say that the BA.5 variant is dominant,” Lee added.

Under the plan, temporary Covid-19 screening centers in public areas, such as parks, sports facilities and community centers, many of which closed down last month as the pandemic subsided, will gradually be reopened to give polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests.

As of Monday, only four temporary screening centers were being operated across the nation.

The government aims to open 55 centers in Seoul and the surrounding province of Gyeonggi and Incheon, from which most Covid-19 patients are coming, and 15 in the rest of the country. If infections soar, temporary screening centers will be expanded to each city, county, and district.

Screening centers in public health centers will extend their operation hours, the government said.

Supply and demand management of home test kits will also be strengthened.

The public will be able to view supplies of test kits in convenience stores across the country in real-time through smartphone applications. Home test kits became available at all convenience stores temporarily from Wednesday.

New rules were adopted at nursing hospitals, which are considered high-risk for infection.

From July 25, face-to-face visits, which were resumed last month, will again be prohibited. Visits to nursing hospitals will only be possible through a window. Outings for patients will only be allowed for essential outpatient treatment.

Employees will be required to get PCR tests once a week regardless of their vaccination status or infection history.

The government decided to reserve about 4,000 more hospital beds for Covid-19 patients, and issued an administrative order to hospitals on Wednesday.

The number of “one-stop medical facilities” that handle everything from testing Covid-19 to treatment and prescription, will be increased from the current 6,492 locations to 10,000 by the end of this month.

Prioritized group for fast-track Covid-19 services — meaning those who can get tested and prescribed medication in a day — include people 60 or older, immune-compromised patients, and residents at nursing hospitals. People with underlying diseases and patients in mental hospitals and facilities for the disabled will be added.

For oral Covid-19 pills, the country plans to receive enough for 342,000 patients in the second half of this year, and for 600,000 people in the first half of next year in addition to the current stock for 773,000 patients.

The additional measures come as Korea sees a sharp rise in Covid-19 patients, reporting more than 70,000 new cases for two days in a row.

The country recorded 76,402 new cases on Wednesday, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), which was the highest number for a Wednesday in 12 weeks and 1.9 times the figure a week ago.

Of Wednesday’s figure, 429 were imported from abroad. That was the second highest number since Feb. 4’s 460 imported cases.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]