Gov't vows swift prescription of COVID-19 pills for high-risk patients

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo speaks during a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters about measures to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic at the Government Complex Seoul in Jongno District, Friday. Yonhap

Prime Minister Han Duck-soo said Friday that the government will encourage doctors to prescribe COVID-19 treatment pills for high-risk patients on the day their infections are confirmed.

"For high-risk COVID-19 groups, including people aged 60 or older, test, treatment and prescription of medicine will be carried out in one day," Han told a virus response meeting.

The government will also allow high-risk patients to swiftly be admitted to hospitals responsible for COVID-19 treatment, Han said.

South Korea's daily infections have been trending downward since mid-March as the rapid spread of the Omicron variant is apparently under control.

Meanwhile, the health authorities detected a case of African swine fever in Hongcheon, 102 kilometers east of Seoul, Thursday, the nation's first case since Oct. 5 last year.

Han instructed officials to exert their utmost efforts to prevent the animal disease from spreading. (Yonhap)

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