The government has decided to consider adjusting the infectious disease level of COVID-19 which is currently classified as a Class One disease.

During a government meeting on COVID-19 response on Wednesday, Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum ordered relevant government agencies to confer with the medical sector on ways to adjust the level in line with the changing circumstances.

Kim said around 75 percent of patients in COVID-19 wards are either asymptomatic or suffering light symptoms but require urgent treatment for underlying diseases. He said many experts have assessed that it would be more appropriate for such patients to be treated at general wards.

A Class One designation is given to infectious diseases that have high mortality rates, or a high risk of causing cluster infections requiring immediate reporting of cases and high-level isolation.

Other diseases with this classification are the Ebola virus, MERS and SARS.