[COVID-19 Year 1] 'Sweat Drop Vaccine'... The Medical Staff's Struggle Continues

Medical staff are encouraging each other at the temporary screening clinic at Seoul Station, Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporters Choi Dae-yeol and Kim Heung-soon] "An elderly couple in their 80s who tested positive were hospitalized and receiving treatment together when the grandfather's condition suddenly worsened. Even though he was nearing the end of his life, we couldn't inform the grandmother of this. The family only told her after he passed away, and it was heartbreaking to have to just watch such a situation unfold."

Kim Hyun-jung (a pseudonym), a nurse responsible for responding to COVID-19 patients at a national medical center in a provincial area, recalled this as the most heartbreaking experience while reflecting on one year since the first COVID-19 case in Korea. She said, "If it weren't for COVID-19, this family might not have experienced such sorrow, or at least they could have been together at home or in the hospital during the final moments." She added, "Even though they were hospitalized in the same hospital, strict separation of COVID-19 patients' rooms meant the couple couldn't even see each other's faces and had to say goodbye apart, which was very painful."

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On the 20th, it will mark one year since the first confirmed COVID-19 case was reported in Korea. Medical staff like Kim have stood by patients, confronting the fear of infectious diseases over the past year. Kim was first assigned to COVID-19 duties at the end of February last year, when cluster infections occurred mainly in Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions, centered around the Shincheonji Church of Jesus and Cheongdo Daenam Hospital. She recalled, "I was in outpatient care, but the situation was so urgent that after brief training, I was deployed to respond to COVID-19 patients. At that time, information about the infectious disease was scarce, so just putting on protective gear and going to the ward was terrifying."

Many elderly patients who tested positive and were hospitalized came from nursing hospitals, so nurses had to take over tasks usually done by caregivers or family members, such as feeding and assisting with toileting. Kim said, "When there were many patients to care for, fellow nurses often held back even from going to the restroom to keep working. Although I am much more accustomed now, in the beginning, wearing protective gear made tasks like giving injections and taking temperatures take more than twice as long as usual." She added, "COVID-19 is a battle with no known end. I hope the public maintains vigilance, follows government guidelines well, and everyone takes care to be cautious."

A medical staff member is wearing a face shield at a temporary screening clinic set up in Seoul Station Plaza. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

Unable to Put Down the Phone 24/7... Burden of One-Sided Guidelines and Redundant Administrative Tasks
"To Prevent Medical Staff Burnout, We Must First Improve Indiscriminate Long-Term Hospitalizations"

Professor Jung Jin-won, an infectious disease specialist at Chung-Ang University Hospital, often has to go to the hospital past midnight to check on patients. This is because he must personally make decisions when patients transferred from other locations deteriorate or when severely ill patients are admitted late at night after testing positive. While rounds and treatments are conducted with other doctors in the hospital, responding to transfer inquiries and making decisions is solely Professor Jung's responsibility. This is why he has been unable to put down his phone 24 hours a day for the entire year since February last year.

Treating COVID-19 patients is difficult not only because isolation facilities must be prepared and multiple layers of protective equipment worn. The guidelines from health authorities, which leave little room for frontline medical staff to exercise judgment, are also a major factor causing exhaustion. Professor Jung said, "Even when the infectiousness has disappeared and there is no need to remain in isolation, patients are not released from isolation just because they have a fever, which makes it difficult to manage hospital beds smoothly. There are also frequent cases where patients who have fully recovered in nursing hospitals cannot be readmitted to their original hospitals, thus occupying critical care beds unnecessarily."

In addition to the daily burden of filling out detailed reporting forms, entering the same information separately into different government agencies is also a significant load. Given that the COVID-19 situation, which has lasted about a year, is likely to continue for several more months, Professor Jung emphasized the need for measures to prevent indiscriminate long-term hospitalizations to reduce the risk of burnout among frontline medical staff.