Health authorities said Thursday that when the country's COVID-19 vaccination rate sufficiently rises, they will consider allowing more patients to be treated at home.

Regarding concerns of a shortage in hospital beds due to an infection spike, Health Ministry official Son Young-rae said in a briefing that being treated at home carries a higher risk of spreading the infection to others, and that keeping patients in a treatment center is a better option.

He added that home treatment is allowed in certain cases for children, parents who need to care for their kids, and one-person households.

But the official cited experts who say that home treatment should be expanded in line with the pace of inoculations and declining fatality rate.

Currently in South Korea, a vast majority of COVID-19 patients, even those showing no or only mild symptoms, are admitted into treatment centers to receive basic medical service and contain its spread.