Authorities: "Mild and Asymptomatic Patients in the Capital Area Increasing Rapidly... Additional Residential Treatment Centers Secured"

On the 5th, the 'Seoul City Mobile Screening Clinic' was set up near Exit 11 of Gangnam Station in Seoul. Citizens are waiting to undergo specimen testing. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The quarantine authorities are preparing to add three more residential treatment centers to accommodate mild and asymptomatic COVID-19 patients. While there is sufficient capacity in hospital beds due to a certain level of vaccination among the elderly, this decision comes amid a rapid increase in mild or asymptomatic confirmed cases, mainly among younger people.

On the 6th, Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, said at a COVID-19 briefing, "Asymptomatic or mild cases are rapidly increasing among young and middle-aged people in the metropolitan area," adding, "If this continues, there may be limits to residential treatment centers in the metropolitan area, so we are preparing to open about three additional centers by next week."

According to the authorities, as of the 4th, there are 4,655 available beds out of 7,405 dedicated infectious disease hospital beds nationwide. There are also 581 available beds out of 795 for severe patients. Son stated, "There is no increase in cases among the elderly aged 60 and over," and assessed, "The medical system itself has capacity in intensive care beds and infectious disease hospitals."

On the other hand, the operation rate of residential treatment centers is 58.8%, with more than half of the beds occupied. Among the 6,649 capacity across 37 residential treatment centers nationwide, 2,738 additional patients can be accommodated. Son said, "There may be limits to residential treatment centers in the metropolitan area, so we are preparing to open about three additional centers by next week," and added, "We are aggressively expanding testing for suspected patients, so the number of patients is expected to increase starting tomorrow."

The quarantine authorities plan to announce social distancing measures to be applied in the metropolitan area after the 8th on the 7th. Originally, the 'new social distancing scheme' was supposed to be implemented nationwide, including the metropolitan area, starting from the 1st, but due to the uncontrollable spread in the metropolitan area just before implementation, a one-week postponement was abruptly decided the day before. Options under discussion include maintaining the existing level 2 distancing or applying a new level 3 social distancing.

Son said, "Nothing has been decided yet," and explained, "Metropolitan local governments are collecting opinions and discussing, and a conclusion will be reached today (the 6th) to be finalized and announced at the Central Disease Control Headquarters meeting tomorrow (the 7th)." He hinted, "Opinions among metropolitan local governments vary, so nothing has been decided yet, and consensus has not been reached."

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