If a Doctor Judges a 'Suspected Patient,' New Coronavirus Test (Supplement)

On the 4th, medical staff are busy moving around in the COVID-19 screening clinic installed at the National Medical Center in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Starting from the 7th, the target group for testing for the novel coronavirus infection (Wuhan Pneumonia) in South Korea will be expanded from visitors to Wuhan City and Hubei Province to visitors from all over China. Individuals showing symptoms such as fever, cough, and sore throat, as well as pneumonia findings, will be classified as suspected cases. If a doctor judges the patient to have signs of the novel coronavirus, they will also be included in the testing target group.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) Central Disease Control Headquarters announced on the 6th that they have revised the response procedures for the novel coronavirus infection (5th edition) to include these changes and will apply them from 9 a.m. on the 7th.

According to the revised edition, previously, individuals who had visited Hubei Province and showed pneumonia symptoms within 14 days were classified as suspected cases, but now the scope has been expanded to all of China. Even without pneumonia symptoms, having a fever or respiratory symptoms (such as cough or sore throat) will meet the criteria for suspected cases.

Additionally, based on a doctor's opinion considering travel history to countries with novel coronavirus outbreaks, individuals may be reclassified as suspected cases. Therefore, even if a person has not visited China, if they have a history of visiting countries with novel coronavirus outbreaks, a doctor may classify them as a suspected case depending on the patient's condition and conduct testing.

The testing institutions will be expanded to include about 50 private institutions (including entrusted testing institutions) certified by the KCDC.