보건복지부 영문홈페이지

13th Central Residential Treatment Center to Be Closed

제13중앙생활치료센터 운영 종료 계획

 

PRESS RELEASE

NOV 11, 2022

As most COVID-19 patients choose to isolate at home and the nation has eased the isolation mandates for overseas arrivals, and lifted the on-arrival PCR test requirement from October 1, 2022, the 13th Central Residential Treatment Center has recently experienced a significant drop in COVID-19 treatment admissions. In response, the South Korean government has decided to close the 13th Central Residential Treatment Center (Hotel ORA in Incheon) on November 30, 2022.

The state-run residential treatment center has been operated for short-term foreign visitors with mild or no symptoms who cannot self-isolate at home.

In order to close on November 30, 2022, the center will stop accepting admissions on November 23, 2022.

Local governments will provide a list of facilities with isolation units available for short-term foreign visitors with mild or no symptoms, including hotels.

* Jeju Island, Busan, and other popular destinations for foreign tourists currently provide a list of hotels available for isolation.

If the need arises to reopen residential treatment centers due to a possible uptick in COVID-19 cases in the future, local governments will offer their backup isolation facilities (18 facilities with 2,556 units) to ensure an adequate response capacity.

Since March 2020, the South Korean government has been operating a total of 324 residential treatment centers for patients confirmed with COVID-19 but mild or no symptoms to promote the efficient utilization of medical resources. Backed with a cumulative budget of KRW 763.2 billion, these centers have provided live-in isolation and treatment units to a total of some 410,000 COVID-19 patients.