Gyeonggi Province COVID-19 Home Care System to Launch on 28th...Management of Patients in Home Quarantine

[Suwon Ilbo=Park Nohun Correspondent] The Gyeonggi Province home care system for managing COVID-19 confirmed patients in home quarantine prior to hospital bed allocation has begun full operation.

Lim Seung-gwan, co-head of Gyeonggi Province's COVID-19 Emergency Response Headquarters, held a regular briefing on the 28th and stated "At a time when the issue of securing treatment beds for confirmed patients is becoming apparent, Gyeonggi Province has anticipated these problems and prepared the home care system in advance" and "We will do our utmost to ensure that patients who are waiting without hospital beds after being confirmed have no worries or inconvenience."

The home care system targets patients among the confirmed who are waiting at home because hospitalization or admission to a living treatment center is difficult. The system comprehensively reviews patients' health conditions including age and presence of underlying diseases, as well as the possibility of independent isolation, and the Gyeonggi Province COVID-19 Emergency Response Headquarters' bed allocation team determines the management targets of the home care system.

Once designated as a management target of the home care system, professional medical staff monitor health status once daily by phone and provide medical and mental counseling. The contents of medical consultations are entered into G-CoMS (Gyeonggi Province Confirmed Patient Health Management System) including psychological state, consciousness, and cardiopulmonary function to monitor changes in health status. When patients' symptoms worsen, beds are promptly allocated at medical institutions or living treatment centers and patients are transferred.

The Gyeonggi Province home care system operation team, composed of 12 members including medical personnel and government officials, manages confirmed patients 24 hours a day with daytime work at Gyeonggi Provincial Government and nighttime remote work. Six nurses who participated in the recruitment for the Gyeonggi Emergency Medical Support Team are also deployed to the operation team and are active.

The province prepared operational manuals for smooth operation of the home care system and held a video conference on the 27th targeting 31 cities and counties and 46 health centers for training.

Meanwhile, as of 0 o'clock on the 28th, the number of confirmed cases in Gyeonggi Province increased by 115 from 0 o'clock the previous day to a total of 3,005 cases, with confirmed cases occurring in 22 cities and counties across the province. The infection routes include 17 related to Sarang Jeil Church in Seongbuk-gu, Seoul, and 9 related to Uri Jeil Church in Yongin, and the number of confirmed cases with unknown infection sources is 28, accounting for 24.3%. There are 44 elderly people aged 60 or older, accounting for 38.3% of new confirmed cases.
Related to Sarang Jeil Church, 17 additional confirmed cases have occurred, bringing the cumulative confirmed cases to a total of 290. Among 1,350 test subjects notified by the Central Disaster Management Headquarters, 1,245 completed tests with 290 testing positive, showing a 23.3% positivity rate. The remaining 954 tested negative and 1 is awaiting results. There are 7 people scheduled for testing and 98 untested, with measures being taken to encourage rapid testing.
There are no additional confirmed cases related to the August 15th Gwanghwamun rally, with cumulative confirmed cases totaling 61. Among 7,287 test subjects, 6,604 completed tests with 61 testing positive, showing a 0.9% positivity rate. There are 73 people scheduled for testing and 610 untested due to test refusal, loss of contact, etc., with measures being taken to encourage rapid testing.

As of 0 o'clock on the 28th, Gyeonggi Province has secured 590 treatment beds for confirmed patients at a total of 14 hospitals, with 556 beds currently in use, representing a 94.2% occupancy rate. At the Ansan Gyeonggi Metropolitan 2 Living Treatment Center and Icheon Gyeonggi Province No. 3 Living Treatment Center, 375 people are admitted as of 17:00 on the 27th, showing a 73.5% occupancy rate with remaining capacity for 135 people. The province will open its No. 4 Living Treatment Center at Samsung Fire & Marine Insurance Global Campus in Goyang on the 28th and its No. 5 Living Treatment Center at Korea Standards Association Human Resources Development Institute in Anseong on the 29th.