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- 2025-12-24 23:30:08
- Policy
- DREC to deliberate drug reevaluation as originally planned
- by Kim, Jung-Ju Feb 07, 2020 06:32am
- Although committee meetings and events by Korean government and associated agencies have been either canceled or postponed due to the novel coronavirus, Drug Reimbursement Evaluation Committee (DREC) plans to push on with its original schedules as it plays the role of the first threshold to drug reimbursement listing and criteria negotiation. Pharmaceutical industry insider reported Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) has decided to convene DREC meeting on Feb. 6 as initially planned. DREC’s objective is to deliberate and decide on issues regarding new and generic drug listing, alleviating or adjusting reimbursement criteria and other National Health Insurance reimbursement. The committee regularly convenes a meeting on every first Thursday of a month, and reports outcomes to Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW). The ministry then sort out drugs for listing to either report them to Health Insurance Policy Deliberation Committee (HIPDC) or order National Health Insurance Service (NHIS) to schedule further negotiations with the pharmaceutical companies, if need be. The industry carefully assumed DREC would also postpone its meeting schedule, as HIPDC meeting, as well as other government and public events and meetings, have been affected by the novel coronavirus outbreak. But the industry was still skeptical of the committee rescheduling the meeting as DREC consists of only about 20 or so members and its decision-making procedure is more urgent than any other committee’s as it affects company’s business schedule and patient’s treatment access. The industry is naturally quite keen on this specific DREC meeting as it the agenda includes the pharmaceutical reevaluation standard and method. HIRA has been hinting the industry of a plan to adopt reevaluation system for already-listed drug and accordingly adjust pricing and reimbursement conditions, but it has yet to finalize related guideline and subject drug list. The industry has been highlighting the finalization of the reevaluation guideline and subject list as reevaluating last year’s hot potato, choline alfoscerate, would be also decided at the same time. Overall, the industry is mostly convinced the upcoming DREC meeting would deliberate and decide on the guideline and the list considering the general flow and time needed of Comprehensive National Health Insurance Plan and revised drug pricing system.
- Policy
- 2019n-CoV was successfully isolated from infected patients
- by Kim, Jung-Ju Feb 06, 2020 06:30am
- Health authorities have successfully isolated the new coronavirus (wuhan pneumonia) from patients with infectious diseases, It is very good news for developing vaccines and treatments The KCDC(Director, Eun-kyung Chung) announced on the 5th that 2019n-CoV was isolated and will share with the scientific community for the development of vaccines and treatments. The new isolate of Korean coronavirus is BetaCoV/ Korea /KCDC03/2020. STR of isolated new Korean coronavirus The KCDC inoculated the patient's respiratory specimens (sputum, etc.) into cells and confirmed the growth of the new coronavirus and analyzed the viral gene sequences to prove the new coronavirus. The culture is to divide, grow and multiply the cells, which are the basic life units, so that the population increases. Viruses can be cultured only in living cells. According to the virus genetic information released by the KCDC, the isolated virus was identical in sequence (99.5 ~ 99.9%) with viruses isolated from China (Wuhan, Guangdong), France, Singapore, Germany, etc. No significant genetic variation was found. .The nucleotide sequence information of the new isolates of the new coronavirus is registered in the GISAID of the World Health Organization (WHO) and can be used by researchers at home and abroad .GISAID is WHO's world influenza surveillance network, which contains information on the gene sequence of new coronaviruses in each country .The director, Eun-kyung Chung said, "Isolated viruses will be distributed to relevant ministries and relevant competent institutions so that they can be used for research and development as an indispensable resource for the development of diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines, and distribution procedures and methods will be announced later".
- Policy
- Illegal botulinum toxin dealing salesmen sent to prosecutor
- by Lee, Tak-Sun Feb 05, 2020 05:58am
- A couple of salespeople from a pharmaceutical company were caught red-handed illegally supplying botulinum toxin injections, used to reduced wrinkles, to unlicensed vendors. Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS, Minister Lee Eui-kyung) announced on Jan. 3, it sent two salesmen, aged 44 and 40, and four unlicensed brokers to prosecutor’s office after concluding their violation of Pharmaceutical Affairs Act and illegal distribution of prescription drug, botulinum toxin injection. According to the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, an individual, neither a pharmacy owner nor working pharmacist at the pharmacy, cannot sell or purchase pharmaceutical products for sales purpose. An investigation uncovered salesmen “A” and “B” from a pharmaceutical company have schemed to illegally supply botulinum toxin injection (total 17,470 units worth 440 million won) to unlicensed broker “C” from December 2017 to August 2019. The injection was illegally distributed either by putting an order of the injection more than the actual order from plastic surgery or dermatology hospital or clinic and pocketing the remainder, or by putting a fake order in as a hospital or clinic and selling the supply to unlicensed brokers. Apparently the motive behind the illegal dealing with broker was to raise sales performance to gain incentives and earn advantage for promotion. Moreover, the four brokers sold off the botulinum injections acquired from the salespeople to foreign buyers, so-called “peddlers,” with cash transaction. Regarding illegal pharmaceutical dealing like the botulinum injection case, MFDS vowed to strictly investigate and manage such cases to prevent Koreans from abusing or overdosing food or drug.
- Policy
- The KOEDC, real-time check on 2019-nCoV treatment
- by Lee, Jeong-Hwan Feb 05, 2020 05:58am
- The KOEDC (President Young-mi Yoon) said it is checking the overseas status of alternative treatment candidates such as antiviral agents in real time in order to cope with a 2019-nCoV infection known to have no treatment. As the agency is in charge of domestic supply and demand of rare medicines worldwide, it is intended to support the rapid introduction of candidates in Korea when a situation worsens or a drug that can suppress infection is identified. An official of the KOEDC on the 2nd said, "We immediately reported our willingness to request and support the relevant medicine checklists from the KCDC and the MFDS immediately after the Lunar New Year holidays, when the 2019-nCoV crisis began to spread". Currently, the KCDC and the MFDS have delivered lists of antibiotics and antivirals to the KOEDC that may be effective in preventing 2019-nCoV proliferation. With about 10 items, the drug name was decided to be closed because the drug's efficacy was not clearly proven. The world is focusing on the prevention of the spread of 2019-nCoV, and at the same time working on the discovery of therapeutics. Hubei Province, Hubei Province, China, which is known as the source of new virus because there is no suitable treatment, is confirming the treatment effect of the confirmed patients by replacing antiviral drugs such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) treatment. In fact, US pharmaceutical companies have begun sending antivirals to China at the request of Chinese health authorities. AbbVie, Johnson & Johnson and Gilead are the most representative. AbbVie decided to donate about $2 million worth of Kaletra, the first approved HIV treatment 20 years ago, to China. Johnson & Johnson has also decided to ship China's HIV drug, Prezcobix, which combines two antiviral agents. Gilead is discussing with U.S. and Chinese researchers a trial of using Remdesivir, a drug for the treatment of Ebola, in 2019-nCoV confirmors. This drug is not yet available in the United States. First, the center is keeping an eye on the global 2019-nCoV trend, including the medicines, and is checking volume and distribution of related drugs overseas continuously. In addition, a visitor list was prepared for the safety of patients and guardians who visited the center directly to receive orphan drugs, and the center has also strengthened measures to identify visitor prior symptoms such as fever and cough. In particular, the center is expected to have a significant increase in the number of visitors to receive medicines as ‘delivery of orphan drugs consignment delivery service with keeping a fixed temperature during the shipping', which has been promoted over the past year, ends this month. Therefore, the center plans to strengthen further inspection. The center expects that the average daily number of orphan drug recipients will increase to 40 to 60 people daily, which has increased by 4 to 6 times for the time being due to the completion of the pilot project. An official of the center said, "The reason for the existence of the center is the domestic supply of rare drugs overseas. We informed the KCDC and the MFDS about necessary data support plans, including candidate materials, and have a consultation system among the working groups, when they candidate data that can be used as a 2019-nCoV treatment material, we grasp the volume and distribution of overseas pharmaceuticals”. The official said, “The level of protection was also increased for the safety management of patients and guardians who visited the center directly. Since relatively severe patients are visiting, it is necessary to reinforce the countermeasures of patients with low immunity, even if they are not 2019-nCoV infected, and we are strengthening the preventive measures of visitors such as coughing and adding & considering adding a waiting room for suspect visitors”.
- Policy
- Insurance not covered if Revlimid prescribed multiple up
- by Lee, Hye-Kyung Feb 04, 2020 08:16pm
- Insurance will not be covered if Revlimid’s lower dose such as 5mg in multiples by Celgene is prescribed instead of Revlimid 10mg, 15mg, 20mg, or 25mg. Reimbursed price of Revlimid 25mg is ₩101,768, whereas Revlimid 2.5mg, 1/10 dose of Revlimid 25mg, is ₩53,904. If 10 tablets of Revlimid 2.5mg is prescribed instead of 1 tablet of Revlimid 25mg, it will cost more than ₩500,000. The Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service recently released the list of reimbursed pharmaceuticals with cost-effective dose in January 2020. The list was made in accordance with the revision of the pharmaceutical list and reimbursed limit table on December 31 of last year. Effective date is from March 1st. The full reimbursed list is subject to automatic computerized checks for DUR information and review of reimbursed payments. Last year, the HIRA was in the process of reconfirming unmanaged items in batches, allowing DUR additions and deletions to be adjusted. In the newly added list of oral prescription with benefit cut in case of prescribing multiple up of lower dose, a total of 200 item combinations were added due to the confirmation of production items, and 92 item combinations were designated as shortage prevention drugs and were removed from the list. In addition, the following combinations of items that were subject to DUR adjustment due to the establishment of low-high doses; Allenaon 10·20mg, Mini Ressin 0.1·0.2mg, Glimedi 2·4mg, DaeWoongBio Atorvastatin 20·40mg, Intrack 6.25·12.5mg, Pitastin 2·4mg, Matiran 20·40mg, Crowon 5·10mg, Litor 10·20mg, Esomedin 20·40mg, Leviepil 0.25·0.5g, 0.25-1g, Eso-mp 20·40mg, Since January 1 of this year, due to the elimination of the low-high doses, Elosuva 10·20mg, Dulota 30·60mg, Lowgan 10·20mg, Omertec 20·40mg, Norvasc ODT 5·10mg , and Cavedia 12.5·25mg have been dropped from the DUR screening. Injectables include Genpenem 0.5·1g, Cralevo 50·150ml, Astriaxone 1-2g, Samsung Merophenem 0.5·1g, Copenem, 0.5·1g as a result of the product confirmation, Mecapem 0.5·1g and Cifloxin 0.2·0.4g will be automatically cut from DUR when prescribed multiple up of lower dose medication from next month.
- Policy
- Patent litigation to decide prospects of Olostar generic
- by Lee, Tak-Sun Feb 04, 2020 06:32am
- For the first time, a generic drug with same active ingredient (olmesartan medoxomil, rosuvastatin calcium) contained in Daewoong Pharmaceutical’s blockbuster co-morbid hypertension and dyslipidemia treatment, Olostar, has applied for approval. Presumably, the generic manufacturer would be either Kolmar Korea or a CMO as Kolmar Korea’s bioequivalence test protocol for the generic has been approved in last March. However, the company cannot immediately release the generic product despite acquiring the item approval, because Olostar’s pharmaceutical patent is valid until Mar. 22 of 2033. The pharmaceutical industry reported on Jan. 2 that olmesartan medoxomil-rosuvastatin generic has submitted an approval application to Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). As Olostar’s post-marketing surveillance period has expired on Jan. 28, a follow-on drug has no problem applying for approval. But the generic would face restriction according to patent-approval linkage system, because the original’s drug patent is listed on MFDS’ patent list. The original manufacturer may request for sales ban on generics via patent litigation. And if generic manufacturer wins the patent litigation, the restriction protecting the original would be lifted. Kolmar Korea has already filed negative confirmation of scope on the original to evade patent infringement on June 3 last year. And Hutecs Pharmaceutical Korea, Mother’s Pharm, Daehan New Pharm, Sinil Pharmaceutical, Hana Pharm, White Life Science, Korea Prime Pharm, Hanpoong Pharm, and Crystal Life Sciences have also filed the same case. Kolmar Korea has been developing the generic until now. The company’s bioequivalence test protocol has been approved last March to prove equivalence between tentatively named Olmetin tablet 20/20 mg and Olostar tablet 20/20 mg in healthy adult subject. Kolmar Korea has highly likely to have developed the generic drug and other patent challengers would be supplied with the contract manufactured generic. Sources report review on the negative confirmation of scope filed on Olostar has almost been completed and is waiting for the last decision. If Intellectual Property Trial and Appeal Board are to cite the generic manufacturer, the generics could be released after clearing the approval. However, the pressure of patent infringement has not been resolved fully, yet, as the patent owner, Daewoong Pharmaceutical, has a possibility of filing an appeal at a higher instance. Since the approval in July 2013, Olostar has been enjoying its success in the hypertension and dyslipidemia treatment market. According to UBIST, the drug generated total 12.1 billion won of outpatient prescription volume last year, easily surpassing the standard of Korean blockbuster drug at ten billion won. Definitely, the original has the marketability attracting the generics to hurry the early launch. But, the success of generics in the market is not guaranteed. Although a generic with the exact same substance as the original is not available at the moment, a few combination drugs with telmisartan and rosuvastatin calcium in the same class as Olostar have been released already. And 11 companies are supplying the telmisartan-rosuvastatin drugs. Moreover, the competition would intensify by coming October, as the original’s post-marketing surveillance period is to be expired then. Other combination drug for co-morbid hypertension and dyslipidemia with amlodipine besylate and atorvastatin calcium (brand name: Caduet by Pfizer) had its post-marketing surveillance period expired in 2010 and now it has total 78 follow-on drugs. Basically, the market cannot get anymore saturated. Nevertheless, small and medium companies are still betting on the generic as the number of originals with soon-to-be-expired market exclusivity is limited, and an item earning over ten million won from outpatient prescription is even rarer. Meanwhile, the original manufacturer is expected to take aggressive legal action against the generic manufacturers, because the generic entering the market would impact the company with drug pricing reduction. Accordingly, Daewoong Pharmaceutical would likely to concentrate on patent litigation.
- Policy
- The HIRA approved 10 of 12 cases in Spinraza
- by Lee, Hye-Kyung Feb 04, 2020 06:31am
- Ten out of 12 applications for the 'Spinraza' reimbursement, which has a maximum insurance price of ₩92.3 million, were approved. One case was failed, and one case was withheld due to a request for supplementary data. The HIRA (Director Seung-Taek Kim) released result of deliberation example on the website on the 31st including ▲ Immune Tolerance Induction ▲ Nusinersen sodium injection (Spinraza) ▲ Eculizumab injection (Soliris) ▲ Valve assistive device therapy (VAD) Approval of Institutions ▲approval of institutions for hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. Spinraza has been on the list of reimbursed drugs since April 8 last year, but medical institutions that want to do so at an ultra-high price of ₩92,359,131 per 5ml bottle must apply for pre-approval. The details of one disapproval of the newly filed application indicate that one medical institution applied for Spinraza benefits to a 45-year-old female patient, but symptoms and signs of spinal muscular atrophy were apparent at age 3 (36 months). And, the claim was not accepted because it was not confirmed and objectively proved. Looking for Spinraza's reimbursement criteria, all three conditions including ▲ Genetic diagnosis of 5q SMN-1 gene deficiency or mutation ▲ SMA-related clinical symptoms and signs when under 3 years old ▲ Permanent ventilator not used must be met as 5q spinal muscular astrophy patient. In the case of a data supplement decision, a 39-year-old male was not approved because there was no evidence that he had symptoms of 5q spinal muscular atrophy from 3 years of age or younger. In the case of Soliris (Eculizumab), which had been subject to prior approval prior to Spinraza, there were prior applications of the total number of 59 cases (48 cases of Paroxysmal nocturnal hemochromatosis, PNH & 11 atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, aHUS). In the case of a newly medication application, PNH had five approvals and two disapprovals, and aHUS had five disapproval decisions without approval. In addition, details reviewed by the review board can be viewed from the website of the HIRA.
- Policy
- Value framework research explains why we need it
- by Lee, Hye-Kyung Feb 03, 2020 06:24am
- Experts claim value framework criteria and evidence fitting to Korean circumstances are needed to justify limited National Health Insurance (NHI) finance granting reimbursement on high-cost anticancer treatment with clinical uncertainty. The argument is that new value framework scales are needed for a new high-cost anticancer treatment with weak evidence of improving survival time and progression-free survival (PFS), because they raise an issue of uncertain efficacy when evaluating cost-effectiveness. Korean Cancer Study Group recently unveiled a final report on a study of pharmaceutical value framework, cosigned by Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA). The research team evaluated six drugs—non-small cell lung cancer (SNCLC) targeted therapy Tagrisso (osimertinib), immunotherapies Tecentriq (atezolizumab), Keytruda (pembrolizumab), nivolumab, and multiple myeloma treatments Kyprolis (carfilzomib) and Pomalyst (pomalidomide)—with two tools applicable for Korean environment, American Society of Clinical Oncology’s (ASCO) Value Framework (VF) and European Society for Medical Oncology’s (ESMO) Magnitude of Clinical Benefit Scale (MCBS) ASCO VF and ESMO-MCBS assessed clinical efficacy, toxicity and quality of life, but had a gap in evaluation methods used with unclear aspects in each, which resulted in different assessment outcomes depending on investigator and drug. ASCO VF had an issue with clinical benefit indicators. Among three indicators including overall survival (OS), PFS, objective response rate (ORR), OR is meaningful as an ultimate target endpoint. So it may seem reasonable to set weighted value of OR lower than PFS or ORR, but weighted value or preference from the perspective of patient has not been reflected. The research team pointed out “Applying ASCO VF in Korea could result in a significant discrepancy in scores when respective evaluators assess randomized clinical studies of a drug. If a clarified guidance is not given on the scale of value framework, a tool originally designed to help the bilateral decision-making between a doctor and patient could actually cause confusion instead.” Meanwhile, the team found an issue of insufficient amount of ESMO-MCBS-based literature on anticancer treating blood cancer. When developing ESMO-MCBS, various drugs treating a variety of cancers were reviewed but drug for blood cancer was not included. “The tools have limitations in clearly answering the questions of how to define ‘clinical benefit;’ how would ASCO VF specify items evaluated for toxicity; what indicators could be used to assess quality of life; or what criteria could measure improved toxicity in ESMO-MCBS,“ nevertheless, “the value frameworks support the argument of rising medical expenditure, due to increased number of cancer patients and high-cost anticancer treatments, should develop ‘value-based’ scale evaluating ‘value’ more objectively,” the team assessed. The related expert survey and focused group interview drew a conclusion that the majority of the experts agreed value framework for anticancer treatment should be adopted in Korea, and they answered both of the external tools should be considered instead of preferring either of them. The weighted values from analytic hierarchy process (AHP) showed oncologists considering efficacy of an anticancer treatment more when prescribing than how much ASCO VF considers of relative importance of efficacy. The researchers stated, “This should be clarified when adopting ASCO VF as a Korean value framework. When applying clinical value framework for anticancer treatment, this part should be consulted with experts to better define and reflect it.” The report also recommended conducting follow-up studies to specify criteria to assess toxicity, alleviated symptoms, and improved quality of life. “Developing a unique value framework for Korea would require a series of discussions and studies in the future, and continuous efforts should be made to explore and generate value-based endpoint fully reflecting the Korean landscape and various stakeholders,” the researchers concluded.
- Policy
- 6-hour test kit targeting 2019-nCoV developed in Korea
- by Lee, Tak-Sun Feb 03, 2020 06:24am
- A laboratory test kit to confirm the 2019 novel coronavirus infection in six hours has been co-developed by a government body and private entity. From Jan. 31, the new test kit would used by Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) and Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment to test suspected cases, and it would be available for use by private healthcare institutes from early February at earliest. KCDC (Director Jeong Eun-kyeong), Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine (President Kwon Gye-cheol), and Korean Association of External Quality Assessment Service (President Min Hong-ki) have developed, validated and assessed quality of real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to detect 2019 novel coronavirus. They announced KCDC (including National Incheon International Airport Quarantine Station) and 18 Government Research Institute of Public Health and Environment stationed nationwide are to use the kit from Jan. 31. The new test takes six hours or less to confirm the infection and the gene-amplifying PCR only requires a single test. The test can be manufactured domestically and it would significantly contribute in proactively response to the virus infection. The existing pan-coronavirus test kit takes a longer time (one to two days) and requires a two-step testing. KCDC stated the new highly credible test kit has been developed based on the 2019 novel coronavirus genetic information, World Health Organization (WHO) test method, and clinical samples, and it was fully disclosed to Korean laboratory test tool manufacturing companies to locally manufacture the kit. Except for China at the moment, an internationally approved and prevalently used test kit is not available, but the Korean-made kit would be distributed to private healthcare institutes in early February at earliest with the help of R&D by Korean manufacturer, assessment support by KCDC, the academic society and the association and emergency approval on medical device by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS). Preparing to approve the emergency use of the test kit, MFDS plans to closely cooperate with KCDC and promptly process the reviewing of safety and accuracy with submitted product evaluation material. Korean Society for Laboratory Medicine and Korean Association of External Quality Assessment Service officials said, “The test kit holds a great meaning as public-private cooperation has resulted in an effective diagnostic system in such short period of time. The public-private cooperation would vastly contribute to end the outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus.” Director Jeong Eun-kyeong of KCDC explained, “The new test kit would enable us to specifically target and diagnose the novel coronavirus, and to respond assertively depending on confirmed infection, even if the outbreak spreads.”
- Policy
- Government on new coronavirus, “All hands on deck”
- by Kim, Jung-Ju Feb 03, 2020 06:22am
- The Korean government body reported the Cheongwadae of pan-government response plan on the 2019 novel coronavirus after monitoring the current status of the outbreak. Along with the plan, the government officials discussed of a plan evacuating Korean residents in Wuhan, China, and providing other humanitarian support for China. At the Government Complex Seoul from 10:30 a.m. on Jan. 30, Ministry of Health and Welfare (MOHW) convened and President Moon Jae-in led a meeting on general countermeasure plan against the 2019 novel coronavirus, along with Deputy Prime Minister, related Ministers and 17 city and provincial leaders. ◆ Response status and pan-governmental support plan: At the meeting, the government officials first talked of the present status of response against the novel coronavirus outbreak and related pan-governmental support plan, and decided to put all efforts to block off inter-regional spread of the virus infection in Korea. First off, the government has decided to place more government officers at the quarantine centers to thoroughly shut out the spread of infection. Following the additional dispatch of 250 officers from MOHW, Ministry of National Defense (MND), Korean National Police Agency and others to quarantine centers nationwide including Incheon International Airport, MND has promptly dispatched 106 more officers to meet the needed reinforcements. And depending on the progression of the spread home and abroad, the government leaders have decided to dispatch epidemiologist to affected cities and districts. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) call center (1339) has increased the number of respondents from 19 to 329 to swiftly provide counseling and answer related questions from suspected case of the novel coronavirus. KCDC also plans to arrange more epidemiologists around cities and districts. Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA) is also running a due diligence on overall 2,991 people traveled from Wuhan to Korea from Jan. 13 to 26. The travelers are checked upon everyday by phone call, and isolated for further inspection if they show respiratory symptoms. A child or school faculty returned from Hubei province, China, is refrained from coming to daycare center, kindergarten and school, but accordingly administrative measures like attendance processing are simultaneously executed. Also workers, who visited Hubei province, are also temporarily removed from welfare facility with senior citizens and the disabled for 14 days. The government plans to redirect public health center capacity to focus on special clinics for the outbreak and people who came in contact with infected people. To better accommodate the outbreak management, regional health centers adjusted and lessened workload of general medical service and health promotion programs. And regional emergency medical centers are to check visitors’ body temperature and to confirm infection of those with high fever in a separate special health center before they enter the hospital to minimize infection spreading within healthcare institutes. At the moment, 18 Government Research Institutes of Public Health and Environment are testing the suspected cases as soon as possible, but other private healthcare institutes may run tests by themselves from early February. Also the government has alleviated government support standard for medical professionals to judge the risk of infection at the field and quarantine and treat the suspected case immediately. Meanwhile, the government bodies are to cooperate monitoring and imposing strict measures on unknown source of information with unauthorized use of the government body logo distributed to the public and creating confusion and anxiety. ◆ On safely evacuating and aiding Korean residents in Wuhan: Temporary flights are sent to Wuhan to evacuate Korean residents in Wuhan and close vicinity, if they want to be. The temporary flights would be managed based on evacuation demand, and the government would finish up the related talks with the Chinese government soon. The Korean residents are to be tested for infection before boarding the plane and after landing in Korea. Dispatching government-led emergency response team, the Korean residents flying in from Wuhan would get an emergency flight support, quarantine testing, medical aid, and necessary supplies. Korean government is also sending medical aid supplies to China struggling with the fast-spreading novel coronavirus as a humanitarian gesture. As requested by Chinese government, Korean government is to review providing total of USD five million worth of supplies. ◆ Temporarily quarantined living quarter for returnees from Wuhan and local government reinforcements: Temporarily quarantined living quarter for Korean residents returning from Wuhan aims to protect both the returnees and local citizens. The site was designated generally considering the facility to accommodate quarantined treatment and proximity to healthcare institute. Each returnee is provided with a single room as a living quarter, but visitor access and exiting the facility would be strictly prohibited. Individual supply of toiletry and bedding would be given to each returnee for sanitary reasons, and also their disposal wastes would be dealt with care. Medical professionals would check their health status twice daily, and anyone showing symptoms at the facility would be immediately transferred to government-designated hospital for admission. Support team consisting of various government officers would strictly manage the temporary living facilities to ensure safety and health of neighboring communities. ◆ Economic impact and response plan: The government announced all governmental capacity and effort would be centered on securing public safety and security and in minimizing economic impact until the risk of novel coronavirus completely subsides. Also the impact, especially on the real economy in Korea, would be investigated closely and all capacity would be focused on minimizing the potential negative effect as much as possible. Referring the previous cases of SARS in 2003 and MERS in 2015, the impact on economy would be thoroughly examined and analyzed by various scenarios, and necessary initiative would be proactively prepared to be initiated when needed. And related budget would be allocated and spent on preemptive and watertight epidemic disinfection Total epidemic disinfection budget of 20.8 billion won, consisting of 6.7 billion won for responsive disinfection system, 2.5 billion won for quarantine and infection testing fee, and 2.9 billion won for quarantined treatment, already allocated for this year would be spent to assertively back up the preemptive epidemic disinfection. The government has announced two trillion won, initially allocated as contingency budget for this year, would be used if the secured budget is insufficient.
