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| A medical worker looks at COVID-19 rapid antigen test results at a screening center in front of Seoul City Hall, Friday. Yonhap |
Daily infections above 350,000 for 2nd day; 251 more COVID-19 deaths reported
By Lee Hae-rin
The government has decided to temporarily accept rapid antigen test results by medical professionals to confirm COVID-19 infections without conducting PCR tests, as the number of daily cases surpass 350,000.
The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters announced Sunday that the positive results of rapid antigen tests conducted at medical facilities will be counted as equal to that of a PCR test for a month, starting Monday.
Health authorities explained that the rapid antigen test has become more accurate as the COVID-19 caseload grew, with its prediction rate reaching 94.7 percent.
As the country faces a shortage of medical resources, the government plans to limit conducting PCR tests and focus on providing timely treatment and preventing deaths, especially for critical cases among people aged over 60 and unvaccinated minors.
Health experts agree that the new government measure is effective and necessary as the country faces a rapid spread of the Omicron variant.
"With such a large number of daily cases coming in, timely quarantine and treatment are essential," Chun Eun-mi, a pulmonologist at Ewha Women's University Mokdong Hospital, told The Korea Times, Sunday. "Not only is it no longer feasible to conduct PCR test on every suspected case, but people also get infected while waiting in line to get PCR tests in hospitals. The test result takes a maximum of two days to come out as well, which could delay treatment."
Chun recommended taking an at-home test before visiting medical facilities for a rapid antigen test to avoid cluster infections in crowded places.
Those who test positive from the rapid antigen tests by medical professionals are to self-quarantine, like those confirmed by the PCR test. Patients aged over 60 are eligible for a prescription of Paxlovid COVID-19 antiviral pills.
The treatment range and facility should be expanded, according to some health experts.
"People get tested and confirm being infected because they want treatment. If the government does not provide treatment for those who test positive with self-test kits and seek medical support, fewer people will come forward with their test results and report their infection cases," Chun said, emphasizing the need to provide treatment to a wider range of patients.
Meanwhile, Korea reported 350,190 new COVID-19 cases for Sunday, including 350,157 local ones, bringing up the total caseload to 6,556,453, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA).
The tally went down from the record high of 383,664 from Saturday, but it is 1.4 times greater than that of last Sunday and doubled from two weeks ago.
Also, 251 deaths were reported, among which 161 cases occurred among those aged 60 and over, which is higher than the week's average of 205 cases. The total current number of deaths stood at 10,395 and the fatality rate at 0.16 percent.
Health authorities forecast the Omicron wave to peak next week, with the daily average of new cases between 295,000 and 372,000.
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