In keeping with the continuous decline of new Covid-19 cases, the government will discontinue the operations of community treatment centers and temporary testing facilities from Wednesday.
The Central Disaster Management Headquarters (CDMH) said community treatment centers nationwide, responsible for isolating and treating Covid-19 patients with light symptoms, would remain open until Tuesday.
Only one such center will continue operation designated by the headquarters as a facility for foreigners who enter from abroad.
The government has gradually reduced the number of community treatment centers as the at-home treatment system introduced after the Omicron wave hit the nation took a firm root. Besides, an increasing number of neighborhood clinics took over virus tests and drug prescriptions, allowing the health authorities to reduce community treatment facilities.
According to CDMH, the number of Covid-19 patients entering community treatment centers hit a daily record of 11,701 on Jan. 28, with cumulative entrants reaching 361,831.
Besides, the government operates temporary screening and testing centers nationwide until Tuesday. There have been only 78 such centers remaining throughout the country.
Instead of closing community treatment centers, the government will expand face-to-face treatment for Covid-19 patients, Interior Minister Lee Sang-min said.
Lee said the government would lower the amount of remote monitoring for high-risk Covid-19 patients under at-home treatment from the current two times a day to one starting Monday.
Instead, the minister said that the government is working to increase the number of local clinics that provide face-to-face treatment for Covid-19 patients. As of Monday, there had been 6,446 clinics across the country.
With the summer vacation season approaching, the government will further relax the Covid-19 rules.
For instance, it will exempt children 12 years or younger from mandatory isolation when they enter the country accompanied by vaccinated parents or other guardians. Previously, the exemption criteria were applied only to children six years or younger.
On Tuesday, the country reported 17,191 new Covid-19 infections, raising the total caseload to 18,103,638, according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.