"89 Severe COVID-19 Cases... 61 Critically Ill Including 20s and 40s (Update)"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] As of the 22nd, there are 89 patients with severe or higher symptoms among the confirmed domestic cases of COVID-19, of which 61 are in critical condition.

Gwak Jin, head of the Epidemiological Investigation and Patient Management Team at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters for COVID-19, stated at the regular briefing in the afternoon, "There are 28 patients classified as severe, who are wearing oxygen masks or have a fever above 38.5 degrees Celsius, and 61 patients in critical condition who are using mechanical ventilation or artificial respirators." Among the critically ill patients, there is one person in their 20s and one in their 40s.

For patients with severe or higher symptoms undergoing isolation treatment, treatments such as ECMO and artificial respirators, as well as oxygen mask therapy, are administered. ECMO stands for extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, a device that removes blood from patients whose heart and lungs are not functioning properly, supplies oxygen, and then returns it to the body.

Artificial respirators through intubation are used to treat patients who cannot breathe on their own. For patients in a better condition but with a fever above 38.5 degrees Celsius or decreased oxygen saturation due to pneumonia, oxygen mask therapy is provided.

Meanwhile, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Korea as of midnight on this day is 8,897. Among them, the number of deaths is identified as 106, including those not yet reflected in the official government statistics.

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