This file photo, taken March 29, 2023, shows people walking past a COVID-19 testing center at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 30 (Korea Bizwire) — As the national crisis level of COVID-19 from “serious” to “alert” starting next month, temporary screening sites will close at the end of this month.
The downgrading of the crisis level does not mean the complete disappearance of the disease management system that has been in place for the past three years.
Screening centers and one-stop care centers at health facilities and medical institutions will continue their operations, at least throughout the summer.
Additionally, COVID-19 medications and vaccinations will remain free of charge until the end of this year.
Initially, the government plans to keep the national screening centers open until July or August, when the legal infectious disease classification of COVID-19 is expected to be lowered from Level 2 to Level 4.
On June 1, when the crisis level is downgraded, only nine temporary screening centers will be shut down.
Testing for COVID-19 will remain free of charge until the epidemic level is downgraded, after which it will be covered by the National Health Insurance for certain vulnerable groups.
However, concerns have arisen in the medical field regarding the declaration of an “endemic” which means the transition of the virus to an endemic disease.
This declaration could potentially lead to a surge in cases and a shortage of hospital rooms.
In the first week of May (April 30-May 6), the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases reached 106,010, indicating a 16.6 percent increase from the previous week (April 23-29, 98,898).
The utilization rate of dedicated COVID-19 beds nationwide had risen to 51.6 percent as of May 10.
Given these circumstances, if the number of daily confirmed cases exceeds 30,000, as it did earlier in the pandemic, there are concerns that patients with severe symptoms may not receive timely treatment due to a shortage of beds in intensive care units.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
