'Medical Mobile Task Force' Operating to Treat COVID-19 Confirmed Patients in Care Facilities

Doctors and Nurses Visit Facilities Directly
Patients Bear Medical Costs for Non-COVID Symptoms Like Underlying Conditions

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] A 'Medical Mobile Task Force' composed of medical personnel with extensive COVID-19 treatment experience will be deployed to long-term care facilities where medical staff are not permanently stationed.

On the 6th, Park Hyang, head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters' quarantine team, stated, "We have decided to form a medical mobile task force to provide active treatment to elderly individuals with underlying conditions in long-term care facilities." When a resident in a long-term care facility tests positive, the task force will be organized to enable rapid prescription and treatment, strengthening 'visiting face-to-face medical care.'

The mobile task force consists of at least one doctor and one nurse with extensive COVID-19 treatment experience. When a facility such as a nursing home or a communal living home for the elderly, or a local government requests a visit from the task force, the team will visit the facility. The task force will check the health status of confirmed residents at the facility and provide treatment and prescriptions for COVID-19 or other symptoms. However, costs may be incurred for treatment of symptoms other than COVID-19 or for residents who have been released from isolation.

As of the 5th, 73 teams from 45 medical institutions nationwide have been designated as medical mobile task forces for long-term care facilities.

The mobile task force will operate temporarily until the 30th of this month. Authorities plan to monitor the occurrence of confirmed cases in long-term care facilities, designate additional task forces as needed, and decide on possible extensions in the future.