Bang Daebon "Confirmed Cases Will Continue to Increase... Continuously Reviewing Timing of Measures"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jun-yi] As the number of new COVID-19 cases surpassed 7,000, the government announced that the number of confirmed cases is expected to continue increasing for the time being. They also stated that the timing for measures such as emergency plans will be continuously reviewed.

On the 8th briefing, Park Young-jun, head of the epidemiological investigation team at the Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH), said, "When forecasting the trend of the COVID-19 outbreak, three indicators are important: the population's immunity, mobility, and the current scale of infected individuals. Considering that the scale is the largest ever, mobility is not decreasing, and booster vaccinations are not accelerating, the number of confirmed cases will continue to rise."

He added, "I understand that the government will carefully monitor the situation and review when to implement extraordinary measures, such as activating the emergency plan."

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Accident Response Headquarters (CARH), also emphasized the seriousness of the situation during the briefing, stating, "We believe it is important to maintain or shift to a decreasing trend in the number of severe cases within at least 1 to 2 weeks."

Son explained, "We are expanding intensive care units as quickly as possible, but there are limitations such as the allocation of medical personnel. We can manage about 10,000 confirmed cases, but for numbers beyond that, significant medical adjustments will be necessary, and we will continue to push forward with the planned expansion of hospital beds."