[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] It has been revealed that the proportion of COVID-19 confirmed cases aged 60 and over related to infection-vulnerable facilities in Gyeonggi Province nearly doubled over the past ten days.
Gyeonggi Province announced on the 27th that an analysis of 20,264 confirmed COVID-19 cases aged 60 and over in the province from the 14th to the 23rd showed that the proportion of those related to infection-vulnerable facilities increased from 4.4% on the 14th to 8.4% on the 23rd.
Infection-vulnerable facilities refer to long-term care institutions such as nursing hospitals, nursing homes, day care centers, as well as residents and users of facilities for the disabled and mental health facilities.
Ryu Young-cheol, Director of the Provincial Health and Wellness Bureau, said, "The goal of the quarantine authorities is to minimize health damage such as severe illness and death through focused management of high-risk groups, but recent indicators are concerning due to the rapid increase in high-risk groups." He added, "To respond to the Omicron variant BA.5, which has recently become dominant in the metropolitan area, we plan to actively respond to high-risk groups such as those aged 60 and over and patients with underlying conditions."
Accordingly, the province will first operate a focused management period for high-risk groups and conduct regionally tailored promotions to increase the fourth vaccination rate among those aged 60 and over.
As of midnight on the 26th, the fourth vaccination rate for those aged 60 and over in the province was 38.5%, and the province has set a target of 45% for next week.
Although the fourth vaccination has somewhat reduced effectiveness in preventing infection against variant viruses such as BA.5, it still shows high effectiveness in preventing severe illness and death, at 50.6% and 53.3% respectively, so vaccination is necessary, the province explained.
Along with vaccination, the province plans to increase one-stop medical institutions and pharmacies responsible for oral antiviral treatments to prevent confirmed high-risk patients aged 60 and over and those with underlying conditions from progressing to severe illness.
Among oral antiviral treatments, Paxlovid has been shown to reduce the risk of severe illness by 63% and the risk of death by 56% in the population aged 60 and over.
Meanwhile, the province will provide timely information on one-stop medical institutions and designated pharmacies for oral antiviral treatments through the provincial website and the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service website, ensuring that high-risk confirmed patients can quickly receive testing and prescriptions within five days of symptom onset.
In addition, for infection-vulnerable facilities such as nursing hospitals, proactive prevention measures have been implemented since the 25th of this month, including strengthening PCR testing for workers and restricting in-person visits, thus entering a limited social distancing phase.
As of midnight on the 26th, the number of deaths in Gyeonggi Province increased by one from the previous day to 6,344. The number of confirmed cases increased by 27,280 from midnight the previous day to 5,258,766, with the cumulative infection rate among the entire provincial population at 37.8%.
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