Background
The rapid rise in coronavirus disease worldwide has drastically limited the availability of hospital facilities for patients. Residential treatment centers were opened in South Korea for the admission of asymptomatic or patients with mild symptoms. This study discusses the appropriateness of the admission criteria set by the centers in a pandemic situation, the prioritization of patients for admission, and ways to minimize the risk of self-isolation.
Methods
A total of 217 low-risk patients (n=217) were admitted to the Nowon Residential Treatment Center between August 22 and October 14, 2020. The following criteria were met at the time of admission: patients (1) were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, (2) had either a controlled or no underlying chronic disease, and (3) did not need oxygen treatment. Among them, 202 patients who were eligible for inclusion in the study were retrospectively investigated through periodic interviews.
Results
Of the 202 patients, 153 satisfied the criteria for symptomatic isolation standards, and 25 for asymptomatic isolation standards. The clinical conditions of 24 patients were aggravated, and these patients were transferred to other hospitals, among which 12 had persistent fever and 13 were suffering dyspnea with oxygen saturation (SpO₂) <95%.
Conclusion
In the event of another large-scale epidemic, it would be appropriate to prioritize accommodating patients who are elderly or have underlying diseases and self-isolate young patients with no underlying diseases and provide them with SpO₂ meters and thermometers to self-measure SpO₂ and body temperature.

Norovirus is one of the common causative agents of viral gastroenteritis in developed countries. A large outbreak of gastroenteritis occurred among girls' high school students in Cheongju city, Chungbuk province, who had attended a school trip to Cheju island from 19 to 21 May 2003. One hundred and ninety six students were consistent with case definition and attack rate was 54.9%. The epidemic curve was characteristic of a point-source outbreak. The frequency of diarrhea was 1 to 6 times (76.8%) and the duration of diarrhea was within two days (85.1%) in most cases. The most common symptom with diarrhea was abdominal pain followed by headache, tenesmus, febrile sense, chill and vomiting. The following bacterial organisms, Salmonella spp, Shigella spp, Vibrio spp, Staphylococcus aureus, and E coli O157 were examined in 196 stool specimens, but no suspicious organism was detected. In virological examinations, Norovirus was dectected in 3 out of 25 stool specimens from the sick students. Among the 22 stool specimens of the food handlers during the school trip, both bacterial and virological examinations were all negative. Among the 13 environmental specimens, the groundwater of the hotel, where the students had stayed during their school trip, was contaminated with general bacteria and E. Coli. However, we could not detect Norovirus in the groundwater of the hotel. We concluded that Norovirus might be a possible cause of this outbreak, and the water supply of the hotel might be a probable source of this outbreak.