Record High Deaths and Critical COVID-19 Cases on the 14th Amid Spread
Medical Community: "Pause Gradual Return to Normal... Prepare Healthcare System for Prolonged Battle"
Government Mentions 'Drastic Measures' Only... "Will Consider Various Situations"
On the morning of the 13th, citizens lined up to get tested at the temporary COVID-19 screening clinic set up at Seoul Station Plaza. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Yoon Seul-gi] The COVID-19 situation is worsening. The number of new confirmed cases has been recording between 5,000 and 7,000 daily, and as cases increase, the number of critically ill patients has surged, surpassing 900 for the first time on the 14th. Additionally, 94 deaths were reported in a single day, marking record highs for both critically ill patients and deaths. As the spread of COVID-19 intensifies, the medical community has called for an 'emergency pause.'
The Korean Health and Medical Workers' Union, affiliated with the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, held a press conference on the 13th at the union's Life Hall in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, demanding a temporary halt to the 'gradual recovery of daily life' (With COVID-19) and the establishment of measures to reorganize the medical response system to reduce damage in preparation for a prolonged battle against COVID-19.
Members of the National Health and Medical Industry Union held an urgent press conference on the afternoon of the 13th at the National Health and Medical Industry Labor Union in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul, to review the COVID-19 medical response system and provide on-site testimonies. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Na Soon-ja, Chairperson of the Health and Medical Workers' Union, said, "Before the recovery of daily life, we repeatedly urged the government to prepare beds and personnel, but instead of preparing and then starting gradual recovery, the government began recovery first and is now hastily issuing administrative orders to secure beds as confirmed cases rapidly increase." She added, "Even if beds are secured, the shortage of personnel has reached a point where treating confirmed patients negatively affects the treatment of general patients."
Chairperson Na further stated, "We must now acknowledge the mistaken judgment that vaccination rates alone would solve the problem and prepare for a prolonged battle. We should pause the gradual recovery of daily life for just two weeks and establish an all-out response system involving the central government, local governments, and both public and private medical institutions." This appears to be a call for a 'temporary pause' to secure medical response efficiency, considering that since the implementation of With COVID-19 in November, the increase in confirmed cases, critically ill patients, and deaths has pushed medical response capacity to its limits.
According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 14th, as of midnight, there were 906 critically ill patients hospitalized and 94 new deaths, the highest since the COVID-19 outbreak. In particular, due to the increase in critically ill patients, 1,480 patients in the metropolitan area are waiting for bed assignments.
As metropolitan patients are transferred to beds in adjacent regions, the medical response system in non-metropolitan areas is also nearing its limit. In Chungbuk (32 beds) and Daejeon (28 beds), there are no available beds at all. Moreover, as confirmed cases and critically ill patients increase in non-metropolitan areas, the COVID-19 risk level there has reached 'very high' for the first time. The metropolitan area has maintained a 'very high' risk level for four consecutive weeks.
As the COVID-19 situation worsens daily, academic societies have also issued statements calling for an 'emergency pause.' The Korean Society of Infectious Diseases, the Korean Society for Antimicrobial Therapy, and the Korean Society for Healthcare-associated Infection Control released a joint statement on the 13th, pointing out that "the ICU bed occupancy rate, a key indicator for the government's gradual recovery, has reached 90% in the metropolitan area, effectively saturating capacity," and that "medical response and quarantine capabilities on the front lines are rapidly depleting, pushing frontline medical and quarantine personnel to their limits."
The Infectious Diseases Society added, "Now is the time when a pause is absolutely necessary to secure the medical system's response capacity," urging, "Through an emergency pause, meaningful measures should be implemented to suppress the increase in cases and reduce the number of confirmed and critically ill patients."
Park Hyang, Head of the Central Quarantine Task Force at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, is holding a regular briefing of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters for COVID-19 on the 14th at the Ministry of Health and Welfare briefing room in the Government Sejong Complex. [Image source=Yonhap News]
Despite voices calling for measures such as temporarily halting the gradual recovery of daily life considering the steep spread of COVID-19 and medical response capacity, the government has only mentioned 'drastic measures' without concrete action.
Son Young-rae, Social Strategy Team Leader of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said during a COVID-19 briefing on the morning of the 13th, regarding the timing of announcing 'drastic measures,' "We need to observe the situation this week," adding, "If the outbreak continues to worsen and medical system capacity decreases to a dangerous level, we will consider drastic measures." He also said, "We also agree with the idea of an emergency (daily life recovery) pause."
Park Hyang, Head of the Quarantine General Team at the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said at the regular briefing of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 14th, "I cannot definitively say that an announcement regarding 'drastic measures' will be made on Friday," but added, "We will evaluate the number of tests over the weekend on Monday and Tuesday, and the scale of confirmed cases and critical situations on Wednesday and Thursday. Considering the severity, other social and economic factors, and medical capacity, we will make a comprehensive decision on how to curb the spread."
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