Only 38 Left... Emergency Management of Negative Pressure Beds in the Seoul Metropolitan Area

30 to 40 Patients Occur Daily This Month
Concerns Over Recurrence of Bed Shortage in Daegu
Situation Continues for Over Five Months
Medical Staff Fatigue at Significant Level
Health Authorities Considering Easing Discharge Criteria

[Asia Economy Reporters Choi Daeyeol, Jo Hyun-ui] As COVID-19 patients, which had mainly occurred in the Seoul metropolitan area, spread nationwide and overseas imported cases increase, a red alert has been raised for managing medical resources for patient treatment. In the metropolitan area, where 30 to 40 new patients have been reported daily this month, only about 10% of beds for severe patients remain, and with the situation continuing for over five months, the fatigue level of medical staff responsible for patient care is also significant. There are concerns that if a large-scale cluster infection occurs anywhere, as in Daegu last March, patients may not even reach hospitals and their symptoms could worsen, leading to casualties.

Only 1 Out of 10 ICU Beds Left in the Metropolitan Area

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 22nd, most of the 328 negative pressure beds for severe patients in Seoul and the metropolitan area are occupied. In Daejeon, where a cluster outbreak related to a multi-level marketing company recently occurred, only 3 out of 13 ICU beds remain. Since last month, the metropolitan area has seen dozens of new confirmed cases daily, and as the virus spread nationwide to places like Daejeon, beds have been filled. Nationwide, about 20% or 115 out of 546 beds remain as of the 20th.

Managing beds is crucial because cluster outbreaks can occur anytime and anywhere, causing a surge in new patients. While young mild patients can recover with symptoms similar to a cold or flu, the fatality rate is high among the elderly or those with underlying conditions. If they cannot be hospitalized and treated promptly, symptoms may worsen, increasing casualties. Jeong Ki-hyun, director of the National Medical Center, which serves as the central infectious disease hospital for patient transfer and admission, said, "It is true that there are concerns about the recurrence of the bed shortage crisis experienced in Daegu and Gyeongbuk. If a cluster outbreak occurs among high-risk groups who require hospitalization, it could lead to a serious collapse of the medical system."

Another issue is the accumulated fatigue of medical staff, who are a key part of medical resources alongside beds. Currently, COVID-19 patients are mainly treated at public medical institutions operated by the government or local governments. The number of patients under treatment dropped below 700 at the end of last month but has since increased to 1,277. While workload is increasing due to patient care and the rising demand for diagnostic tests caused by sporadic cluster infections, health authorities have not been able to properly assess the fatigue level of frontline medical staff.

Park Neung-hoo, first deputy head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of Health and Welfare), said on the day, "We will establish rest standards such as reducing operations during heatwave hours and preventing long working hours, and provide additional shift personnel support in areas with surging workloads," adding that they will look into ways to reduce the work fatigue of medical personnel during the summer.

Two patients hospitalized at Guro Yes Hospital in Guro-gu, Seoul, have been confirmed to have the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), and on the 21st, the hospital entrance was firmly closed for temporary closure. Health authorities are focusing on the possibility of infection occurring within the hospital and are testing 180 people, including medical staff and inpatients. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

Authorities Considering Easing Isolation Release Criteria

The Central Clinical Committee on Emerging Infectious Diseases, which has been responsible for treating COVID-19 patients, proposed to the health authorities to strictly control hospital admissions while easing discharge criteria to efficiently manage bed resources. This reflects the high need to reorganize the overloaded medical system. The reduced accessibility of medical institutions for patients with COVID-19 as well as those with other diseases or emergencies is also a problem.

The Clinical Committee judged that there is no reason for patients who have fully recovered from symptoms to occupy beds just because they test positive for the virus. The health authorities, after analyzing clinical data of domestic patients, concluded that mild patients about a week after confirmation pose almost no risk of infecting others, and decided to ease isolation release criteria, planning to revise guidelines as early as this week.

Currently, patients must test negative twice by PCR tests at one-day intervals after symptoms have completely resolved. The authorities are considering reducing this to a single test or releasing patients from isolation without additional testing if there are no clinical symptoms.

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