Out-of-Hospital Cohort Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients with Mild Symptoms in Korea: an Experience from a Single Community Treatment Center.
Out-of-Hospital Cohort Treatment of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Patients with Mild Symptoms in Korea: an Experience from a Single Community Treatment Center.
J Korean Med Sci. 2020 Apr 06;35(13):e140
Authors: Park PG, Kim CH, Heo Y, Kim TS, Park CW, Kim CH
Abstract
The outbreak of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused a worldwide pandemic. Less than 6 weeks after the first confirmed cases in Korea, the patient number exceeded 5,000, which overcrowded limited hospital resources and forced confirmed patients to stay at home. To allocate medical resources efficiently, Korea implemented a novel institution for the purpose of treating patients with cohort isolation out of hospital, namely the Community Treatment Center (CTC). Herein, we report results of the initial management of patients at one of the largest CTC in Korea. A total of 309 patients were admitted to our CTC. During the first two weeks, 7 patients were transferred to the hospital because of symptom aggravation and 107 patients were discharged without any complication. Although it is a novel concept and may have some limitations, CTC may be a very cost-effective and resource-saving strategy in managing massive cases of COVID-19 or other emerging infectious diseases.
PMID: 32242347 [PubMed - in process]
Source: J Korean Med Sci - Category: General Medicine Authors: Park PG, Kim CH, Heo Y, Kim TS, Park CW, Kim CH Tags: J Korean Med Sci Source Type: research
More News: Coronavirus | COVID-19 | General Medicine | Hospitals | Infectious Diseases | Outbreaks | Pandemics