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SEOUL: South Korea, struggling to control a second wave of COVID-19, vowed on Thursday (Sept. 3) to double its critical care hospital beds amid a severe shortage, highlighting the strain of the pandemic even in well-known countries. equipped.
The rise in severe cases, as older people make up a growing proportion of patients amid a broader resurgence, marks a sharp turn for a country that was deemed successful in squashing one of the worst early outbreaks of the new coronavirus. outside of China.
As of Tuesday, there were fewer than 10 intensive care beds available in the Seoul metropolitan area, a metropolis of 26 million people, health authorities said. Officials do not give daily figures, which can vary greatly.
The Health Ministry said it will spend 100 billion won ($ 84 million) to purchase 500 beds for seriously ill patients across the country by the middle of next year, with the goal of securing at least 110 won by the end of the month.
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“We are also making all our efforts to enable stable treatment for patients,” the ministry’s director general for public health policy, Yoon Tae-ho, told a news conference.
South Korea has 511 intensive care beds, mostly in public hospitals in Seoul and the surrounding regions, but many of them are being used by less severe cases or patients suffering from other ailments.
As of Thursday, 154 COVID-19 patients were in serious or critical condition, up from 123 the day before. The country had only 12 such cases before the second wave began to intensify two weeks ago, following an outbreak among members of a church attending a political rally.
South Korea was caught off guard for the resurgence despite its relatively successful response to the initial epidemic, said Choi Jae-wook, a senior member of the Korean Medical Association.
“The government seems to have become complacent after the daily rate of infections fell into double digits,” said Choi, who teaches preventive medicine at the University of Korea. “They failed to take adequate steps to address the bed shortage even after they had problems earlier this year.”
The crisis is deepening as more than 40 percent of the country’s new coronavirus victims are 60 years or older, up from 20 percent a month ago, health authorities said.
READ: Older South Koreans Drive Rise in Critical Coronavirus Cases
READ: Rise in COVID-19 Cases in South Korea Raises Concerns Over Hospital Bed Shortage
A coalition of South Korean doctor and pharmacist groups warned that more intensive care beds and trained nurses were needed in the Seoul area.
“Now our deepest concerns are coming true,” the coalition said in a statement last week.
Woo Seoc-kyun, who leads the coalition, said the government’s plan to make more beds in public hospitals would help address long-term needs, but would not slow the current spread.
The government managed to hospitalize all new cases after some institutes provided beds, while some patients were transferred to general wards and others died, said Lee Chang-joon, a ministry official in charge of hospital bed management.
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Less sick patients are being transferred from 13 dormitory-like “living treatment centers” with capacity for 3,200 people. Three more facilities are planned, adding capacity for 1,000 more people.
South Korea has one of the most hospital beds per person among the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries, while it is close to the OECD average for intensive care beds.
The country has been affected in recent weeks by ongoing strikes by thousands of doctors and medical students over government health reform plans, although officials said this has had little effect on the shortage of nursing beds. critical care because there were few idle beds and volunteer military doctors and nurses attended the facilities.
Daily reported infections in South Korea fell below 200 for the first time in more than two weeks on Thursday, even as the most serious cases continued to rise. The country has reported a total of 20,644 cases with 329 deaths from COVID-19.
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