'Rapid Surge in New COVID-19 Cases' Seoul City Immediately Secures Additional Available Beds... Residential Treatment Centers Increase from 3,048 to 5,252 Beds

Securing 133 Additional Severe and Critical Care Beds
Expanding Diagnostic Testing and Epidemiological Investigation Capabilities... Increased Enforcement of Measures Such as Outdoor Drinking Crackdowns After 10 PM

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] As the number of new COVID-19 cases continues to break records daily, the Seoul Metropolitan Government is significantly securing hospital beds available for admission, expanding the capacity for diagnostic testing and epidemiological investigations, and enhancing the enforcement of the social distancing Level 4 measures.

On the 12th, Seoul announced at the 'Special Metropolitan Area COVID-19 Response Inspection Meeting' held at the Blue House Yeomin Hall, presided over by President Moon Jae-in, that it plans to secure the maximum number of immediately available hospital beds to ensure COVID-19 patients receive stable treatment.

Seoul will install 1,043 beds at five residential treatment centers for asymptomatic and mild patients by the 16th. Currently, Seoul’s residential treatment centers have 3,048 beds across 17 facilities. However, considering the ongoing increase in COVID-19 cases, it has been determined that securing more than 5,000 beds in residential treatment centers is necessary to maintain a stable public healthcare system.

Additionally, Seoul plans to secure 1,161 more beds through further consultations, operating a total of 5,252 beds. For severe and critical patients, Seoul will also add 133 beds at infectious disease-dedicated hospitals such as Seoul Medical Center. Currently, Seoul has 1,843 beds at infectious disease-dedicated hospitals for severe cases, with 1,183 in use.

Furthermore, Seoul has issued administrative orders requiring proactive testing for 606,527 people, including operators and workers of academies, karaoke rooms, PC rooms?where infection spread is a concern due to the influx of students during summer vacation?and restaurants and cafes, where recent cluster infections have frequently occurred. Seoul has mandated testing for 11,900 karaoke and PC room operators and workers by the 28th, 105,627 academy and tutoring center workers by the 21st of next month, and 489,000 restaurant and cafe operators and workers.

In anticipation of a significant increase in testing demand, Seoul plans to improve testing accessibility by adding 26 temporary screening clinics in high foot traffic areas such as Seoul Plaza and Gangnam Station, operating a total of 52 locations. Especially in entertainment districts with many young people and academy-dense areas subject to proactive testing, Seoul will expand nine mobile screening clinics to greatly strengthen testing capacity. Additionally, through the Smart Seoul Map, Seoul will provide information on screening clinic congestion and expected wait times to distribute testing demand and reduce inconvenience caused by long waits.

Meanwhile, as the recent surge in confirmed cases has increased the workload and fatigue of epidemiological investigation personnel, Seoul will provide additional support staff. To facilitate smooth contact tracing, Seoul will support local districts with special grants to hire 55 additional epidemiological investigators to assist epidemiologists, and dispatch 300 Seoul city officials to district sites to support administrative tasks related to epidemiological investigations.

Alongside the implementation of social distancing Level 4, measures to maximize quarantine effectiveness will be conducted simultaneously. Joint inspections by the government, city, districts, and police will be carried out focusing on high-risk multi-use facilities to thoroughly monitor compliance with quarantine measures, and restrictions on nighttime activities after 10 p.m. will continue to be enforced.

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