As the country transitions to normal life, the government will quickly carry out booster shots for patients and employees at geriatric hospitals, senior care facilities and mental clinics and also revise related quarantine rules.

Health ministry official Son Young-rae said Wednesday that in principle, boosters are given six months after the last inoculation but the time will be pushed up to five months for high-risk facilities.

Also employees at such establishments will be tested once a week regardless of vaccination status. Local government heads can increase that to twice a week in consideration of cluster outbreaks.

Testing will be exempt only for those who had two weeks pass since a booster.

Public officials will also be assigned to individual elderly hospitals for stepped up onsite inspections.

Geriatric hospitals, senior care facilities and mental clinics have reported over 24-hundred COVID-19 cases since August, including 160 clusters and continued breakthrough infections.