TY - JOUR AU - Kang, EunKyo AU - Lee, Sun Young AU - Jung, Hyemin AU - Kim, Min Sun AU - Cho, Belong AU - Kim, Yon Su T1 - Operating Protocols of a Community Treatment Center for Isolation of Patients with Coronavirus Disease, South Korea T2 - Emerging Infectious Disease journal PY - 2020 VL - 26 IS - 10 SP - 2329 SN - 1080-6059 AB - Most persons with confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have no or mild symptoms. During the COVID-19 pandemic, communities need efficient methods to monitor asymptomatic patients to reduce transmission. We describe the structure and operating protocols of a community treatment center (CTC) run by Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) in South Korea. SNUH converted an existing facility into a CTC to isolate patients who had confirmed COVID-19 but mild or no symptoms. Patients reported self-measured vital signs and symptoms twice a day by using a smartphone application. Medical staff in a remote monitoring center at SNUH reviewed patient vital signs and provided video consultation to patients twice daily. The CTC required few medical staff to perform medical tests, monitor patients, and respond to emergencies. During March 5–26, 2020, we admitted and treated 113 patients at this center. CTCs could be an alternative to hospital admission for isolating patients and preventing community transmission. KW - respiratory infections KW - severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 KW - SARS-CoV-2 KW - SARS KW - COVID-19 KW - 2019 novel coronavirus disease KW - zoonoses KW - viruses KW - coronavirus KW - quarantine facility KW - community treatment center KW - South Korea KW - coronavirus disease KW - CTC DO - 10.3201/eid2610.201460 UR - https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/10/20-1460_article ER - End of Reference