Sample Surveillance Hospitalized Patients Increase by 5.7% Compared to Previous Week
Next Week's Confirmed Cases Expected to Fall Below Initial Estimate of 350,000
The increase in COVID-19 hospitalized patients has slowed compared to the previous week. The quarantine authorities forecast that the number of patients will increase until the end of August, then enter a decreasing trend after next week, with the scale of cases expected to be similar to or smaller than last summer's outbreak.
On the 22nd, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) held a joint meeting with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Education, and related departments to review the current COVID-19 situation and response measures.
According to the KDCA, the number and growth rate of COVID-19 hospitalized patients under sentinel surveillance at 220 medical institutions nationwide were recorded as follows: 226 in the third week of July, 474 (109.7%) in the fourth week of July, 880 (85.7%) in the first week of August, 1366 (55.2%) in the second week of August, and 1444 (5.7%) in the third week of August. Although the weekly number of patients has continued to rise since the end of June, the growth rate has steadily decreased since the fourth week of July and sharply declined in the third week of August.
In her opening remarks at the meeting, KDCA Commissioner Ji Young-mi predicted, "Considering this slowdown, this summer's outbreak will show a decreasing trend this week or after next week, and the scale of cases will be smaller than the initially predicted 350,000 weekly cases in the fourth week of August."
The government has urgently allocated 326.8 billion KRW from contingency funds and is supplying 60,000 doses out of 262,000 COVID-19 treatments secured by this week. On the 26th, 177,000 doses will be distributed to pharmacies nationwide. It is understood that 5.61 million self-test kits produced between August 1 and 20 have been distributed, stabilizing supply.
As the number of COVID-19 patients visiting emergency rooms increases, the Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to transfer them to regional emergency medical institutions and establish fever clinics at public hospitals in each local government. Additionally, public hospitals that previously operated as COVID-19 dedicated centers will secure available beds to build a cooperative hospitalization system.
Furthermore, to prevent transmission in schools ahead of the new semester, the government has created and distributed specific COVID-19 prevention guidelines for schools. These include recommendations not to attend school if symptoms are severe and recognizing absences due to this as attendance. Metropolitan and provincial education offices are actively supporting key quarantine supplies such as masks and hand sanitizers.
KDCA Commissioner Ji Young-mi stated, "We believe that this summer's outbreak will be overcome without major issues based on our past response experience," and added, "We will promptly share information and collaborate closely through interdepartmental meetings."
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