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The government will announce tomorrow (17th) what to do with the current system of quarantine for a week if caught with Corona.

Although the number of patients has been decreasing recently, our coverage confirmed that the quarantine period cannot be shortened or eliminated, so we have decided to maintain the current policy for the time being.



Reporter Han Seong-hee reported exclusively.



<Reporter> The



government has made a de facto decision to maintain the 7-day quarantine for confirmed COVID-19 patients for the time being.



The opinions of quarantine and medical experts gathered until this afternoon were gathered toward maintaining the current status, and it is known that the government has accepted it.



Previously, the government has been discussing three options: maintaining the current quarantine mandatory period, reducing it to five days, and removing high-risk facilities such as nursing homes and hospitals.



Experts judged that "although quarantine indicators are improving, an increase in the number of confirmed cases is inevitable if the quarantine obligation is lifted or the period is shortened."



It was concluded that the scientific basis for reducing the quarantine period to five days was also insufficient.



It was also confirmed by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the possibility of transmission of the coronavirus significantly decreases after 7 days of symptom onset, and that it can sometimes remain for more than 8 days.



[Kim Nam-joong/Professor of Infectious Diseases, Seoul National University Hospital: Viruses come out (in the body) for more than 7 days.

It comes out on the 8th and even the 10th, but mainly because a large amount comes out at the beginning (infection), it is thought that 'the transmission power will be large in the beginning'...

.]



There are not a few countries that quarantine for five days shorter than us, Germany and Greece are obligatory, but the US, Canada and the UK are only recommendations.



The government explained that the quarantine was eased for reasons of economic burden rather than medical judgment.



It was also considered that there are no institutional guidelines for anyone to take a break from work if they are sick.



The government plans to announce these details after a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters tomorrow morning.



However, in the future, we plan to evaluate the quarantine situation and discuss the quarantine duties and standards again.



(Video editing: Park Ji-in, CG: Kim Hong-shik)