Government Secures 55 Additional ICU and Semi-ICU Beds Over Five Days (Update)

On the 18th, when the number of new confirmed cases of COVID-19 increased by 1,062, citizens lined up in a long queue at a temporary screening clinic set up in Seoul Plaza, Jung-gu, Seoul, to receive diagnostic tests. Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] The government announced on the 18th that it has secured 55 beds for severe and semi-severe patients of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) over the past five days. Additional beds were also secured at residential treatment centers and infectious disease-dedicated hospitals.

According to the bed securing status announced by the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the same day, since the announcement of the plan to secure 10,000 beds on the 13th, an additional 3,153 beds at 13 residential treatment centers have been secured. Residential treatment centers are facilities for patients with no or mild symptoms. Nine infectious disease-dedicated hospitals have secured an additional 353 beds for moderate patients receiving inpatient treatment. An additional 55 beds have been secured for severe or semi-severe patients.

Son Young-rae, head of the Strategic Planning Division at the Central Accident Response Headquarters, said in a briefing, "There are 45 severe patient beds nationwide and 4 in the metropolitan area (as of the morning of the 17th) remaining, but we have decided to additionally prepare dedicated intensive care beds at national university hospitals by hospital." He added, "We plan to secure these beds without any setbacks by the end of the year."

He also mentioned that work is underway to designate hospitals equipped with beds exclusively for COVID-19 patients?including severe patient beds, semi-severe patient beds, and moderate patient beds?by either securing entire beds or dispersing existing inpatients, as COVID-19 base dedicated hospitals. Previously, on the 12th, Pakae Hospital in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, and on the 17th, four hospitals including the National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital were designated as base dedicated hospitals. Son said, "By early next month, we will expand 169 beds for severe patients and 172 beds for moderate patients."

As the number of patients in the metropolitan area has surged recently, causing frequent delays in hospitalization after confirmation due to bed shortages, measures to supplement this have also been prepared. According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, an average of 637 patients per day were assigned in the metropolitan area over the past five days, while 256 confirmed patients waited more than two days. Reasons cited include delays in epidemiological investigations due to the increase in patients and a surge in elderly patients leading to a shortage of severe patient beds. Some beds or residential treatment centers reported as available were difficult to utilize when actually assigning patients, causing some to wait.

To improve this situation, the government decided to secure and support medical personnel such as doctors, nurses, and caregivers. They plan to secure medical institutions capable of treating and responding to special patient groups such as those undergoing dialysis, pregnant women, and patients with mental illnesses, and establish a utilization system. For newly designated infectious disease-dedicated hospitals, regardless of the medical institution’s affiliated region, priority will be given to patients from areas with many waiting patients. To use beds efficiently, patients whose symptoms have improved will be actively transferred to lower-level hospitals or residential treatment centers. Patients in the Gyeonggi area are jointly using beds within the metropolitan area, including Seoul and Incheon, and cooperation from other regions will be sought to assign patients. Over the past three days, 256 patients from the Gyeonggi area were urgently transferred to Daegu, Incheon, Daejeon, Cheonan, Gunsan, Mokpo, and other locations.

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