◀ anchor ▶
If you go to the Omicron response stage, you will receive a self-test kit if you are not a high-risk group even if you go to a screening test center, and if you go to a local hospital, you will receive a rapid antigen test.
You will be tested by PCR only if you test positive here.
It is said that all contacts and suspected symptoms cannot be covered by PCR testing.
Next is reporter Kim A-young.
◀ Report ▶
The biggest change is the introduction of self-test kits at screening clinics.
Now, anyone who visits a screening clinic can get a PCR test.
However, under the changed testing system, only high-risk groups can receive PCR testing right away.
The general public first uses the self-test kit, and if the test result is positive, PCR test is performed.
The high-risk group receiving the PCR test right away is the elderly in their 60s or older, close contacts classified by the public health center, or a doctor’s note stating that a corona test is required.
If the number of confirmed cases increases due to the spread of Omicron, the PCR test capacity can exceed 850,000 per day, so it will focus on those at high risk of infection first.
A local hospital designated as a respiratory clinic allows rapid antigen testing.
In the self-test kit, the tester collects the sample himself, but in the rapid antigen test, the medical staff collects the sample.
Self-test kits are free, and rapid antigen testing requires a fee of 5,000 won.
In the future, negative confirmation through self-test kits or rapid antigen test will also be recognized as quarantine passes, and the validity period will be shortened from 48 hours to 24 hours.
The government explained that both test methods are sufficiently high in accuracy to detect negatives.
[손영래/중앙사고수습본부 사회전략반장]
“If the rapid antigen test is negative, it is regarded as negative because the accuracy is considerable, and if it is positive, the PCR test is performed again because of the large inaccuracy…”
The government has decided to shorten the quarantine period for confirmed patients who have been vaccinated from 10 days to 7 days to respond to Omicron mutations, and also reduce the reasons for exemption from quarantine for overseas travelers.
This is Kim Ah-young from MBC News.
Video coverage: Byung-soon Yoon / Video editing: Hye-yeon Park
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