Lee Jae-myung Again 'Refuses' to Accept Mild Patients from Other Regions... "Concerned About Gyeonggi-do Situation"

Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung (second from the left) is holding an emergency COVID-19 countermeasure meeting with the heads of advanced general hospitals in the province at the Gyeonggi Provincial Government Office in Suwon on the 27th.

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, stated that while he would accept severe 'COVID-19' patients from other regions after consultation, he effectively refused to admit mild patients in order to conserve resources in preparation for a possible large-scale outbreak of confirmed cases within the province.

This remark drew attention as it came after Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun recently announced that he would review the 'Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act' to have Gyeonggi Province also accept mild patients from the Daegu and Gyeongbuk regions. The current Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act regulates how hospital beds and medical resources prepared at the national level are distributed and managed.

At a meeting with heads of advanced general hospitals in Gyeonggi Province held on the 27th at the Suwon Provincial Government Situation Room, Governor Lee said, "From a humanitarian perspective, we cannot refuse to accept severe patients from other regions such as Daegu and Gyeongbuk, but we must secure hospital beds for Gyeonggi residents," adding, "We will accept severe COVID-19 patients after consultation, but we will not accept mild patients and should conserve resources as much as possible."

This appears to emphasize the need for Gyeonggi Province to prepare as much as possible amid concerns of a large-scale outbreak centered on Shincheonji Gwacheon worshippers that emerged on the 16th.

As of this day, four confirmed cases have been reported among the Gwacheon worshippers. In particular, among the 4,890 Gyeonggi residents who attended the Gwacheon worship service secured by the province, 215 symptomatic individuals have been identified, indicating a high possibility of additional confirmed cases.

At the meeting, Im Seung-kwan, Director of Anseong Hospital, presented on the "Current Status and Response Direction of COVID-19 in Gyeonggi Province."

Director Im stated, "This is a time when strategies to minimize and mitigate community spread are necessary," and argued, "We need to induce a reduction in contact frequency at the early onset of symptoms, provide new forms of medical services that can timely identify infected patients, and efficiently manage hospital bed resources."

As strategies for this, Director Im proposed operating a telephone consultation center six days a week for mild symptoms to minimize unnecessary hospital visits, and operating large-scale screening centers in a drive-through format.

In the afternoon, Governor Lee held a meeting with six provincial medical organizations including the Gyeonggi Medical Association, Dental Association, Korean Medicine Association, Nursing Association, Nursing Assistant Association, and Clinical Pathology Association.

At this meeting, Governor Lee said, "Because a situation like Daegu could suddenly occur, it is necessary to secure sufficient reserve resources and manpower capacity, so I am requesting cooperation," and discussed ways to utilize medical personnel with the attendees.

Earlier, Kwon Young-jin, Mayor of Daegu, requested Gyeonggi Province to accommodate hundreds of mild COVID-19 confirmed patients from Daegu.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.