Vice Health and Welfare Minister Kim Gang-lip, who is also deputy director of the Central Epidemic Control Countermeasure Headquarters under the Korean Centers for Disease Control, on Feb. 20 gives a daily briefing at Government Complex-Sejong. (Yonhap News)

By Kim Minji 

Amid the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases in select areas of the country, health authorities have announced revised responses to the outbreak, saying it considers this stage the first step in which the coronavirus spreads to the provinces in a limited range.

Vice Health and Welfare Minister Kim Gang-lip, who is also deputy director of the Central Epidemic Control Countermeasure Headquarters under the Korean Centers for Disease Control, on Feb. 20 told a daily briefing at Government Complex-Sejong, "If you suspect that you have COVID-19, please call the 1339 call center or a public health center instead of heading straight to a hospital or an emergency center."

With rising demand for COVID-19 diagnostic tests in the provinces, the government will designate more screening clinics and public health doctors to help people with self-isolation and testing. 

President Moon Jae-in, in a meeting on Feb. 19 with municipal and provincial superintendents of education at Cheong Wa Dae, stressed the need to bolster regional response systems and set up defenses against the virus.