The government fully allowed contactless medical treatment starting Friday in response to the medical community's collective action in protest against increasing the medical school enrollment quota.

The permission will continue until the end of the doctors' strike. Telemedicine will be allowed at all medical institutions, including hospitals and neighborhood clinics, without any application or designation.

"The government will prevent medical professionals’ burnout by focusing on treating severe and emergency cases at tertiary general hospitals hit by a severe leave of absence by medical residents while letting patients with moderate or less severe cases be treated at secondary hospitals in provincial areas, and minor outpatients at clinics," Second Vice minister of Health and Welfare Park Min-soo said.

Park added that the government will also utilize non-face-to-face care to smoothly cope with the increased demand for outpatient visits to local hospitals and clinics to minimize public inconvenience.

Specifically, restricted prescriptions will remain in place for safety reasons, and pharmaceutical deliveries will be allowed within a limited scope as they are now. The number of virtual visits will remain the same as the current pilot.

On the other hand, the government will allow telemedicine for primary care, lifting the limit of two visits per patient per month.

The full allowance of virtual treatment will continue until the collective action of doctors ends, which will be determined when the crisis is deemed to have been stabilized based on a comprehensive assessment.

The government will also establish additional emergency care measures to prepare for prolonged gaps in care proactively. Additional administrative and financial support measures will be implemented soon to ensure smooth patient transportation and power supply.

As of 10 p.m., Thursday, an inspection of 94 training hospitals, excluding the six hospitals scheduled to receive corrective orders for inadequate data submission, revealed that 8,897 interns and residents, about 78.5 percent of the total trainee doctors, had submitted resignation letters, all of which were not accepted. Of them, 7,863, or about 69.4 percent, were confirmed to have left their workplaces.

In addition, 49 more medical students from 12 universities had applied for leave of absence, while 346 students from one university had withdrawn their leave of absence.

Besides, one student at a university was granted a leave of absence due to flunking in compliance with the requirements and procedures under the academic regulations.