Gyeonggi Province Ends COVID-19 Home Care System Operation... Total of 181 Confirmed Cases in Home Quarantine Managed

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hoon Reporter] Gyeonggi Province's COVID-19 home care system, which has been in operation since August 28 in preparation for hospital bed shortages, managed the health of a total of 181 confirmed cases in home quarantine through September 13.

Lee Hee-young, co-director of Gyeonggi Province's COVID-19 Emergency Measures Task Force, held a regular press conference on the 16th and said, "The home care system, which was operated due to a surge in confirmed cases in the Seoul metropolitan area, will be temporarily suspended from the 14th due to a decrease in confirmed cases."

The home care system is a system in which medical staff confirm and counsel the health status of home quarantine patients once a day by phone due to hospital bed shortages resulting from a surge in confirmed patients.

The province managed patient databases using a computer platform developed in March and coordinated with the bed allocation team according to medical priorities, transferring 8 patients to medical institutions and arranging transfer of 63 patients to community treatment centers.

Director Lee said, "The home care system, which was first introduced this time, is meaningful in that it makes it easy to observe the condition of patients in home quarantine, alleviates patient anxiety through phone counseling, and enables quick transfer in emergencies," while adding that "lack of publicity about the system and staff training, as well as overlapping management issues with other agencies such as health centers, are areas that need improvement."

The province plans to resume the home care system with improvements to initial operational issues if confirmed cases spread again.
As of 16th at 0:00, Gyeonggi Province's confirmed case count reached 3,998 total, an increase of 26 from 0:00 the previous day, with confirmed cases occurring in 15 cities and counties in the province. The infection routes of new confirmed cases include 2 related to Park Ae Won in Goyang, 1 related to a Seoul metropolitan area mountain climbing meetup café, 1 related to an elderly day care center in Icheon, 1 related to Nanum Nuri Teo in Gwangmyeong, and 1 related to Veterans Hospital. Among new confirmed cases, 9 patients (34.6%) have unknown infection routes, and 8 elderly individuals aged 60 and above account for 30.8%.

On the 15th, a staff member at Park Ae Won, a psychiatric care facility located in Goyang, was first confirmed. Among 71 staff and residents who were tested, 2 additional confirmed cases were identified among nursing staff and civil service workers. The staff member who was first confirmed developed symptoms such as fever on the 12th and was confirmed positive, with a record of working on the 10th and 11th. The province has isolated 29 staff members and residents who had close contact within the facility and is conducting full-scale testing of 281 people related to the facility while monitoring the situation.

Regarding the Seoul metropolitan area mountain climbing meetup café, 1 additional confirmed case was reported on the 15th, bringing the cumulative confirmed cases to 25 total. The additional confirmed case is an acquaintance of a Bucheon confirmed case and had contact on the 10th.

As of 16th at 0:00, Gyeonggi Province has secured 646 confirmed case treatment beds across 15 hospitals in total, with 394 beds (61%) currently in use. As of 15th at 18:00, a total of 4 community treatment centers including Gyeonggi Metropolitan 2 and Centers No. 3, 4, and 5 have 256 residents admitted, showing a 27.3% occupancy rate. Remaining capacity is 682 people.