보건복지부 영문홈페이지

MOHW Extends Period of Face-to-Face Contact Visits to Nursing Hospitals and Facilities
요양병원·시설 대면 접촉 면회 실시 연장

PRESS RELEASE
MAY 20, 2022

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters was briefed by, and discussed with, the Central Disaster Management Headquarters regarding a plan to extend the special period of face-to-face contact visits to nursing hospitals and facilities.

Given the current COVID-19 situation and on-site voices, it decided to extend the period of in-person visits tentatively allowed for April 30 to May 22, 2022, in celebration of May, which is considered “family month” in South Korea.
 
The decision came after considering various factors, including the stable COVID-19 situation in nursing hospitals and facilities with the number of mass infections continuing to decline, high vaccination rates of fourth doses, and continuing demands for contact visits from patients and their families.

The period may be further extended or reduced depending on future COVID developments.

The same visit eligibility criteria and rules will apply to the extended period, with additional improvements made to reflect on-site needs.

Contact visits are available to patients, residents, and visitors who satisfy any one of the above vaccination criteria or have been recently released from isolation after a confirmed infection. Those who have not been vaccinated due to potential side effects* can also have contact visits.

*For patients and residents, the head of their facility will make a decision after considering the opinion of their attending or consultant doctor, while visitors must submit a letter of their doctor’s opinion.   

In addition, the number of visitors per patient or resident is restricted to four persons, but more visitors can be allowed depending on the facility’s circumstances.

To ensure that the elderly have safe face-to-face visits after a long separation from their families, the government has requested nursing hospitals and facilities to make all necessary preparations and visitors to comply with the visit rules.

Drinking and eating is prohibited and mask-wearing is required during the visit, while the space must be thoroughly disinfected and ventilated after the visit.

// For inquiries, contact Media Relations, Ministry of Health and Welfare
044-202-2047 or fairytale@korea.kr

http://www.mohw.go.kr/react/al/sal0301vw.jsp?PAR_MENU_ID=04&MENU_ID=0403&page=1&CONT_SEQ=371523