Authorities: 6 COVID-19 Confirmed Patients Waiting for Hospitalization or Transfer Died This Month (Update)

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[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] As the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Korea surged to over 1,000 per day, concerns are growing that the shortage of hospital beds is becoming a reality, with six cases this month alone of patients who died while waiting for hospitalization after testing positive.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters (CDCH) released a statement on the 18th, reporting that since the start of the domestic COVID-19 outbreak in January, three patients died at home while waiting for hospital admission, and five patients died while waiting for isolation beds in nursing hospitals. Among these, excluding two who died during the first major outbreak centered in Daegu and Gyeongbuk in February and March, six deaths occurred in December.

According to the CDCH, the five patients who recently died in nursing hospitals were all confirmed cases from the Gyeonggi region and died consecutively this month. Regarding their age groups, one was in their 60s, three in their 70s, and one over 80, all elderly patients aged 60 or older. In Seoul, a patient in their 60s who could not be assigned a hospital bed waited at home for four days after testing positive and died on the 15th.

The health authorities currently classify cases where patients wait more than 24 hours after confirmation as "death while waiting for isolation bed admission or transfer." According to Chungbuk Province and Goesan County, a patient in their 50s at Goesan St. Mary's Hospital who tested positive for COVID-19 also died early this morning. This patient was confirmed positive on the 16th and reportedly died two days later while waiting to be transferred to the National Center for Mental Health. However, the CDCH stated that this case is "not yet confirmed."

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