Severe Cases Reach 1,000... Nearly 90% of Hospital Beds in the Capital Region Filled

On the 17th, medical staff wearing full protective suits were busy working in the infectious disease ward at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Hyun-ui] As the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to record in the 7,000s daily, the utilization rate of severe care beds remains at a high level. In particular, nearly 9 out of 10 beds in the Seoul metropolitan area are occupied.

The Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters (CDSCH) of the Ministry of Health and Welfare announced on the 18th that as of 5 p.m. the previous day, the nationwide utilization rate of severe COVID-19 beds was 81.0%. The government considers a utilization rate above 75% as a warning signal.

The utilization rate of severe care beds in the Seoul metropolitan area was 85.7%, down 1.4 percentage points from 87.1% the previous day. Incheon exceeded 90% with 92.9%, Seoul recorded 85.7%, and Gyeonggi Province recorded 84.0%. There are a total of 120 severe care beds remaining in the metropolitan area.

In non-metropolitan areas, some regions are already saturated and have no capacity left. Daejeon (28 beds) has 3 beds remaining, Sejong (6 beds) has 2, and Chungbuk (32 beds) has 1. Gyeongbuk has no available beds for hospitalization. Nationwide, there are a total of 247 severe care beds available for admission.

The number of critically ill patients counted on this day was 1,016, exceeding 1,000 for the first time since the domestic COVID-19 outbreak, making securing beds an urgent matter. Health authorities anticipate that if the outbreak continues, the number of critically ill patients could increase to about 1,600 to 1,800 within this month.

In the metropolitan area, 562 patients are waiting for hospital admission, and 413 are waiting to enter residential treatment centers, totaling 975 patients waiting for beds. In non-metropolitan areas, 1 person is waiting for bed allocation. The number of patients under home treatment nationwide is 31,468.