Busan Breaks Another Record... Cumulative Confirmed Cases Surpass 10,000, Hospital Bed Shortage Also Critical

'Yeonsae', 'Dolpa', New Cluster Infections... Unstoppable Virus Spread

Health Authorities: "Effect of Increased Social Distancing Will Be Seen Only After a Week..."

On the evening of the 10th, the first day of the implementation of Level 4 social distancing in the Busan area, Seomyeon Street in Busanjin-gu, Busan, was quiet. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Kim Yong-woo] Busan has recorded the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in its history. The daily record was broken after six days, and the cumulative number of confirmed cases is approaching 10,000. The surge in patients due to new infections, clusters, chains, and breakthrough infections has put hospital bed availability on high alert.

On the 13th, Busan City announced that 184 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed. This broke the daily record set six days earlier on the 7th, when 171 cases were reported.

The city’s health authorities stated that confirmed cases are emerging from various everyday locations such as PC bangs, large supermarkets, sports facilities, churches, and pubs.

New cluster infection cases have also been reported. Additional confirmed cases occurred at a PC bang in Seo-gu and a large supermarket in Busanjin-gu.

In the case of the Seo-gu PC bang, after two visitors were confirmed positive on the 8th, six more visitors and five contacts were confirmed positive by the 12th.

On the 13th, three more contacts tested positive, bringing the cumulative confirmed cases to eight visitors and eight contacts.

Two people tested positive after the PC bang visitors’ movement overlapped with a gym in Seo-gu.

At the large supermarket in Busanjin-gu, one employee who had contact with a confirmed case from another city tested positive on the 10th. During prolonged work hours at the store, the virus spread, resulting in six additional colleagues testing positive.

At a pub in Busanjin-gu, three visitors and sixteen contacts were newly confirmed positive, increasing the cumulative confirmed cases to 129.

Three inpatients under cohort isolation at a nursing hospital in Gijang-gun were additionally confirmed positive on the same day.

As the number of confirmed cases surged, the operation rate of residential treatment facilities reached 85.6%, prompting Busan City to push for opening additional facilities to secure more hospital beds.

One more infectious disease-dedicated hospital (with 56 beds) will be designated and is scheduled to begin operation from the 23rd.

Health authorities expect the effects of raising social distancing to level 4 to appear after 7 to 10 days and are discussing further measures accordingly.

The cumulative number of confirmed cases in Busan has reached 9,820, and if this trend continues, it will take just one more day to surpass 10,000 total confirmed cases.

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