[Newsmaker] Korea switches to self

People line up for COVID-19 tests at an outdoor testing facility located in Songpa-gu, Seoul, Monday. (Yonhap)
As the omicron variant spreads rapidly in South Korea, related figures have also hit fresh highs, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Monday.

As of midnight Sunday, the percentage of tests that were positive out of all tests administered in the country reached 26 percent, up 5.2 percentage points from the previous day’s 20.8 percent.

This means that 1 out of 4 people who received a PCR test got a positive result for COVID-19.

The figure has been increasing rapidly since last month. On Jan. 31, the positivity rate reached 7.8 percent, but it increased threefold over the past week.

The country’s new test system, in which rapid antigen testing replaced the polymerase chain reaction test for COVID-19, could have partly boosted the figure. In most cases, people are given an antigen test, and if the result is positive, they take a PCR test to confirm diagnosis.

The number of at-home care patients are also rapidly increasing amid the omicron wave.

During the 24 hours of Sunday, at-home care patients went up by 17,729 from the previous day, raising the total to 146,445.

According to health authorities, the figure is nearing the country’s maximum capacity for those who are treated at home. The current number of at-home care patients account for 88 percent of the country’s maximum capacity of 166,000.

As of midnight Sunday, a total of 538 medical institutions were handling at-home care nationwide, up from the previous day’s 532.

The government said it planned to increase the number of medical institutions that can handle COVID-19 patients under at-home treatment to 650, which will increase the capacity to some 200,000.

To minimize daily COVID-19 deaths from patients who are under at-home treatment, the government said it will ensure extra care to people in high-risk groups, it said.

Meanwhile, the government will also introduce a new contact tracing system, which will require COVID-19 patients to voluntarily report their contact trace data to health authorities.

(ws@heraldcorp.com)

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