SEOUL, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- South Korea's health authorities said on Thursday that it will focus on testing and treating high-risk populations at the earliest possible time to tackle the more highly transmissible Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said in a statement that the severity and fatality rates for Omicron are lower than the Delta variant, while the majority of Omicron cases are asymptomatic and mild.
The KDCA noted that the COVID-19 response system may become less effective if all confirmed cases continue to be managed with an equal focus of resources.
In the latest tally, the country reported a record daily high of 54,122 COVID-19 cases amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant that became a dominant strain here.
The KDCA said it will focus on testing and treating high-risk populations at the earliest possible time to offset such limited resources as diagnostic testing workers, contact tracers, healthcare workers and medical resources.
Under the new response system, the targets for contact tracing will be narrowed to infected people, their household members, and people in facilities vulnerable to infection, such as convalescent hospitals, nursing homes, adult daycare centers, mental health facilities and facilities for people with disabilities.
Eligibility for PCR testing at screening stations in community health centers will be confined to high-risk populations aged 60 or higher, epidemiologically-related people, people with a doctor's note on PCR testing, workers at facilities vulnerable to infection, and people who have tested positive using a rapid antigen test.
The GPS-based self-isolation app, which was previously used to monitor and manage infected people under home quarantine, will no longer be used due to a very high rate of compliance with self-isolation rules among confirmed cases, according to the KDCA.
At-home treatment kits, composed of fever-reducing medicines, a clinical thermometer, a pulse oximeter, household disinfectants and COVID-19 self-test kits, will be supplied to infected people in the intensive care group such as those aged 60 or older.
Household members of an infected person will be allowed to go outside a house only for essential purposes, which include purchasing daily necessities, receiving medicines delivered from a pharmacy, and visiting hospitals. ■