Crucial role of temporary airborne infection isolation rooms in an intensive care unit: containing the COVID-19 outbreak in South Korea

Excerpt

From 20 February through 9 March 2020, South Korea reported the highest number of patients confirmed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outside China, mainly in the Daegu city area: this was a disease cluster related to the practices of the Shincheonjii religious group [1‐3]. In Daegu city, the number of patients with COVID-19 increased rapidly and saturated the healthcare system; as a result, some critically ill patients were unable to obtain hospital care and as a result died of this disease. Care for critically ill COVID-19 patients requires intensive care units (ICUs) that are equipped with airborne infection isolation rooms (AIIRs) [4, 5]. To cope with this situation, we assembled temporary AIIRs with mobile negative-air machines in our ICU, as was done previously in Korea during the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) outbreak [6]. Here, we share our experiences with the assembly of temporary AIIRs in the ICU of our single 635-bed tertiary care, academic hospital and discuss the critical role played by these units toward controlling this explosive outbreak. We hope that our findings will serve as a reference for areas where the COVID-19 outbreak remains ongoing. …