About 190 Military Medical Personnel Newly Deployed to Daegu Area

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu Reporter] About 190 military medical personnel will be additionally deployed to the Daegu area. In addition, the Armed Forces Daegu Hospital plans to accommodate civilian confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19).

According to the Ministry of National Defense on the 2nd, the military has supported 327 medical personnel, which is about 23% of the 1,415 medical staff in military hospitals excluding field units, as part of the whole-government response. Furthermore, it announced plans to secure about 190 essential medical personnel at the Armed Forces Daegu Hospital. The additional personnel to be secured include about 190 people, consisting of 30 doctors and 160 nurses, including the Daegu Hospital which currently has 28 doctors and 51 nurses. Accordingly, when combined with the 750 public health doctors to be supported in the future, the total supported medical personnel will reach 1,077.

The military increased the number of engineering unit personnel deployed to the Daegu Hospital from 25 to 60 to secure 303 beds early. Along with shortening facility construction, the installation period for negative pressure maintenance devices will also be reduced to 4 days. They plan to secure 121 mobile negative pressure devices early. In addition, the 750 public health doctors newly appointed this year will have their military training postponed for 4 weeks and will be appointed early from the 5th to be deployed on site.

The military authorities decided to draft medical personnel from corps, divisions, regiments, and battalions to the maximum extent possible without causing medical gaps in the military. The Ministry of National Defense added that in addition to the 8 nationally designated negative pressure beds at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital and the 88 beds at the Daejeon Hospital, which is a national infectious disease specialized hospital, preparations are underway to support 303 beds at the Daegu Hospital.

So far, 1,060 personnel have been supported for interpretation and quarantine support at airports and other quarantine stations. Among the interpreters, 23 are volunteer soldiers. Additionally, 470 personnel have been supported, including 80 administrative staff at temporary screening clinics in the Daegu and Gyeongbuk areas, 60 drivers for specimen collection support, 29 local government liaisons, and 13 psychological counselors for self-quarantined individuals.

Regarding the management of confirmed and suspected cases within the military, the Ministry of National Defense explained, "The Armed Forces Medical Research Institute, Capital Hospital, and others have their own PCR testing capabilities and are conducting 150 tests per day," adding, "We plan to further expand testing institutions, and from the 6th of this month, it is expected that up to 240 tests per day will be possible."

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