South Korea says COVID-19 patients treated at home will be eligible to free of charge remote consultations with doctors even though they are given multiple times a day.

Lee Ki-il, a senior health official, gave his assurance during a regular media briefing, correcting health authorities’ earlier announcement that telephone consultations could be charged if made more than once a day. 

The official apologized to the public for causing confusion but noted it does not mean such services will be provided as many times as patients want, adding an excess could disrupt daily operations at medical facilities. 

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, three-thousand-925 clinics across the nation were ready to respond to calls for telephone consultations and prescriptions for at-home COVID-19 patients as of 6 p.m. Thursday.