Why is the metropolitan area updated to 2.5 levels? … “Concern about medical collapse due to increase in confirmed cases” (General)

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The government decided to raise the ‘social distance’ in the metropolitan area to 2.5 steps on the 6th because it failed to suppress the spread of the new coronavirus infection (Corona 19) even after applying the so-called ‘2 + α quarantine measures. ‘. do.

Even if there is the feeling of being late, as it is considered that it is not enough to stop the spread of recent simultaneous infections with the measure ‘2 + α’ to further strengthen the quarantine by specifying some facilities and activities with high risk of infection as tweezers. They raised the level of quarantine even further.

In particular, as the number of new confirmed patients per day increased to 600, only 20 beds remained to treat patients with severe gastric disorders. With the medical competition quickly selling out, it seems like the update couldn’t take any longer.

The government believes that the metropolitan area has seriously entered the pandemic stage and that the entire country has faced a pandemic crisis as a consequence, and emphasized that stage 2.5 of the metropolitan area is the last strength to prevent stage 3, the most high distancing.

◇ ‘2 + α’ tweezers can’t get the effect … New confirmation shot 600 people a day

The Security and Disaster Countermeasures Headquarters (middle script) has recently reviewed whether or not the distance since the end of last month has increased as the “ third epidemic ” unfolds to a severe level, with more than 500 confirmed cases in Korea, excluding recent foreign flows.

However, due to concerns about social backlash and the economic damage that would occur if step 2.5 were implemented, which prohibits meetings and events with 50 or more people, and suppresses the use of multi-use facilities as much as possible, the distance between metropolitan area is kept in step 2, while sauna, group exercise and music lessons We choose ‘2 + α’ to selectively add quarantine measures.

This is based on the judgment that it would be difficult to obtain quarantine cooperation if the level were raised again in the situation where metro area 1.5 stage was decided on November 19 and metro area 2 stage on 24. I tried get out of the crisis.

However, after one week, the effect of ‘2 + α’ is negligible.

The number of new patients confirmed on this day was 631, the highest record since the ‘3rd pandemic’ and the third largest ever after 909 people on February 29 and 686 on March 2, which was the peak of the ‘ first pandemic ‘.

At the beginning of last month, the number of confirmed patients, who remained at around 100, increased from the middle to 200, and then soared from 300 to 400 to 500 to 600.

On this day, the number of confirmed cases in the metropolitan area was 470, the highest since the Corona 19 incident, and in Seoul, more than 1,000 new cases occurred in the last 2 to 5 days, and the cumulative number of cases confirmed exceeded 10,000.

The average number of confirmed cases in Korea during the last week (Nov. 29-Dec. 5) was 487.9, an increase of 87.8 from the previous week.

Unlike the ‘second epidemic’ in August, when there was an infection-focused group like the Sarangjeil Church, the infection is spreading in everyday life and, above all, there is an analysis that the spread of the spread is not it may decrease due to a sharp decline in general social awareness.

◇ Concerns about the collapse of the medical system, such as the depletion of critically ill beds, factors to intensify

Concerns about a shortage of beds in frontline hospitals also contributed to the government’s decision to increase the distance.

There are only 55 hospital beds left for critically ill Corona 19 patients in the entire country, and there are only 20 in Seoul, 6 in Seoul, 6 in Gyeonggi and 5 in Incheon. If there are no beds in the metropolitan area, the patient must be sent to another area, but there are no beds available in Daejeon, Jeonbuk, Chungnam and Jeonnam.

When critically ill beds run out, the number of deaths can rise because patients do not receive prompt and intensive treatment. In fact, during the ‘first outbreak’ in Daegu and Gyeongbuk in February-March, there was one case of death from being unable to find a bed despite the sudden worsening of symptoms.

For the government, which is responding with the goal of ‘minimizing deaths’, it is time to prevent Corona 19 from developing to a level where the medical system collapses after exceeding the range of medical capabilities.

The utilization rate of infectious disease hospitals and vital treatment centers serving mildly ill patients has also increased to 70%, which may limit patient isolation.

If the medical system collapses, it is inevitable to stay at home in principle, close more than 500,000 facilities nationwide, such as bathrooms, beauty salons and academies, and prohibit meetings and events with more than 10 people.

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Consequently, the authorities decided to implement step 2.5 for distance distance in the metropolitan area and step 2 in the non-metropolitan area for 3 weeks from 8 to 28.

The script emphasized that “stage 2.5 is a strict limiting measure for social activities, and it is the last bastion just before the total restriction of social activities in the third stage, and if the spread does not subside, a pandemic may occur. national and the collapse of the medical system “. did.

In this case, he said, “in this case, not only will the death rate rise due to an interruption in the treatment of patients, but also the general sacrifice of society is inevitable, such as the inability to smoothly treat patients. critical or emergency patients in general “.

Prime Minister Jeong Sye-gyun also ordered the priority of securing beds, saying: “It should not happen that there is a shortage of beds for critically ill and it cannot protect precious lives.”

◇ Some point pointed out that ‘it is too late to update’ … Opinion of “the effect of 2.5 steps in the metropolitan area will be limited”

Some pointed out that this distance improvement comes a bit late.

Despite the situation in which Corona 19 is spreading simultaneously and simultaneously through everyday spaces throughout the country, the waiting period of measure ‘2 + α’ is said to believe too much in the effect of measure ‘2 + α ‘which has not been lost.

In this regard, Tae-ho Yoon, head of Accident Control Headquarters, said: “The standard for stage 2.5 is around 400-500 domestic incidents, and the number exceeding 400 was 48 weeks (11.22- 28) and 487 people in 49 weeks (11.29-12.5). It happened, “he said.” There may be an assessment that the preventive action was a bit late, but in terms of respecting the standards as much as possible, we took 2.5 steps in the metropolitan area. ”

What the government expects from this remote update is to reduce the number of confirmed patients in the metropolitan area to 150-200 per day so that medical resources can be managed within a controlled range.

The quarantine is expected to gather momentum as the Seoul Metropolitan Government implemented measures to strictly limit social activities after 9 p.m. the previous day and officially declared step 2.5 by the central government.

However, there are opinions that the effect of step 2.5, which takes place only in the metropolitan area, is destined to be limited in the face of a national pandemic.

Prof. Kimoran from the National Cancer Center said: “There are regions that have already gone up to the second stage, so we must raise it to the second stage or higher to avoid the balloon effect according to stage 2.5 in the metropolitan area.” said.

Meanwhile, in the press release that day, the government emphasized the severity of the Corona 19 epidemic and expressed stage 2.5 as’ partial blockade ‘and stage three as’ blockade’, but modified the expressions as’ strict restriction ‘and’ total restriction ‘. . In February, when the Democratic Party of Korea used the word ‘lockdown’ on quarantine measures against Daegu and Gyeongbuk, it was speculated that the government had corrected the expression in the day’s press release.

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