Omicron surge puts 2m patients under home isolation in Korea

Hearses line up outside a crematorium in Gwangju on March 16. (Yonhap)

The omicron surge is placing an unprecedented number of COVID-19 patients at home and hospitals across South Korea.

More than 2 million people were isolating at home as of Sunday, marking a huge jump from about 160,000 a week earlier. Hospital admissions are also rising, with nearly 7 in 10 COVID-19 intensive care beds in the country filling up.

Out of more than 2.14 million in home isolation, 315,687 were vulnerable patients aged 60 and older who require remote safety monitoring, exceeding the manageable threshold of just 300,000. Clinically vulnerable patients under 60 years of age aren’t eligible for remote health monitoring.

As the number of patients in hospitals continues to rise, the Ministry of Health and Welfare last week revised guidelines to discharge patients out of ICUs and semi-ICUs faster. COVID-19 beds, which have been offered to all confirmed patients with worsening symptoms, are now restricted to patients specifically requiring respiratory therapies.

Staffing shortage is forcing hospitals to keep infected health workers on the job. The mandatory isolation period for all medical workers has been cut to three days since a positive test. The Health Ministry sent out a notice so that doctors and nurses can monitor patients remotely while in isolation.

During the last 24 hours of Saturday 327 people lost their lives to COVID-19 — the second-highest death toll to be logged in a single day after March 17’s 429. In the past week an average of 290 deaths were attributed to COVID-19 per day. The 4,370 deaths registered so far this month account for more than a third of 12,101 total known deaths over the pandemic.

The rapid climb in COVID-19 deaths is putting a strain on crematoriums and funeral homes, with families of the deceased struggling to find available services. Last week the Health Ministry ordered public cremation services to extend operation hours to cope with the demand.

Under the omicron response plan, Korea has been keeping a minimal level of mitigation measures in place even as the ongoing omicron wave climbs to its peak. Once the BA.2 omicron subvariant replaces the BA.1 strain as the dominant virus, experts predict the peak of the wave could last longer.

By Kim Arin (arin@heraldcorp.com)

Omicron surge puts 2m patients under home isolation in Korea
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