Consecutive Deaths of Confirmed Patients Waiting for Admission at Goesan Seongmo Hospital Raise Growing Concerns Over Bed Shortages...

Image source=Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] Concerns are growing that the shortage of hospital beds may be becoming a reality as patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) continue to die while waiting for hospitalization.

According to Chungbuk Province and Goesan County on the 18th, a patient in their 50s who was admitted to Goesan Seongmo Hospital after testing positive for COVID-19 died early that morning. This patient was diagnosed with COVID-19 on the 16th and died two days later while waiting to be transferred to the National Mental Health Center.

At Goesan Seongmo Hospital, 22 confirmed cases were reported over three days until the day before, following two patients who tested positive on the 15th. Previously, an elderly patient in their 80s at the same hospital, who died on the 16th, was confirmed positive posthumously.

At a nursing hospital in Bucheon, Gyeonggi Province, where a cluster infection of 120 confirmed cases occurred from the 11th to the present day, three elderly patients in their 70s to 80s who were waiting for bed assignments died consecutively between the 13th and 16th.

In Seoul, a patient in their 60s who was not assigned a hospital bed waited at home for four days after testing positive and died on the 15th.

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