495 Severe Cases and 76% ICU Bed Utilization in Seoul Metropolitan Area... "Not Yet Time for Extreme Measures"

On the morning of the 16th, when the number of severe COVID-19 patients approached 500, citizens were waiting to be tested at the COVID-19 screening clinic at Songpa Health Center in Seoul. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] On the 16th, the number of severe COVID-19 patients once again reached a record high of 495, triggering a series of warning signals. The intensive care unit (ICU) bed occupancy rate in the Seoul metropolitan area also exceeded the key indicator for activating the 'emergency plan,' maintaining a rate of 76%, surpassing the 75% threshold. However, health authorities continue to maintain that "it is not yet dangerous" and that it is premature to activate the emergency plan.

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, stated during a COVID-19 briefing that morning, "The current epidemic situation is not one to be reassured about, but it is not dangerous enough to warrant extreme measures," adding, "Although the total number of confirmed cases is increasing, the scale of the outbreak is not large enough to be considered a major epidemic."

Son explained, "The number of confirmed cases is developing at the mid-2000s level, not at the 5,000 or 7,000 scale as outlined in the crisis scenarios. However, the number of severe cases is slightly increasing," and added, "The increase in severe cases is a problem arising from the higher proportion of elderly people aged 60 and above among confirmed cases." The proportion of daily new confirmed cases aged 60 and above, which was around 20% in early last month, surged to 37.2% on the 14th, indicating that infections are spreading mainly among the high-risk elderly group, naturally leading to an increase in severe patients.

He continued, "Among elderly (severe) patients, breakthrough infections account for about half, and unvaccinated individuals make up the other half," but emphasized, "Those who experienced breakthrough infections after completing vaccination have about one-fifth the fatality and severity rates compared to unvaccinated individuals." According to an analysis of 256,535 confirmed cases from April 3 to October 30, the fatality rate for unvaccinated individuals aged 80 and above reached 14.7%, whereas for those fully vaccinated, it dropped to 3.5%.

The authorities view the current spread as a result of breakthrough infections becoming frequent as the preventive effect of vaccines wanes over time among high-risk groups who were vaccinated early. Son stated, "The main cause of increased infections among those aged 60 and above is the rise in cluster infections in vulnerable facilities such as nursing hospitals and care facilities where vaccinations were administered early," and emphasized, "Currently, there is no large-scale epidemic triggered overall or a major outbreak centered on unvaccinated individuals. The main reason for the increase in severe cases is the waning vaccine effectiveness leading to more infections among the elderly in vulnerable facilities."

To prevent this, he added, "We are rapidly accelerating booster vaccinations, conducting PCR tests twice a week at nursing hospitals and care facilities, and restricting visits," and noted, "While we cannot say the situation is safe, we are at a stage where we are striving to overcome it through these responses."

Stock photo unrelated to the article content [Image source=Yonhap News]

Based on this situation, Son reiterated that the 'emergency plan' is not currently under consideration. He explained, "We do not see the situation as severe enough to halt the recovery of daily life and activate the emergency plan," adding, "Although the ICU occupancy rate is rising in the Seoul metropolitan area, there is room for shared use, so there is still capacity in the national medical system." According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters, as of 5 p.m. the previous day, 695 out of 1,127 ICU beds nationwide (61.7% occupancy) were in use. In the Seoul metropolitan area, 523 out of 687 beds are occupied, reaching a 76.1% occupancy rate, but since patients can still be transferred to nearby regions, there is capacity available. He also explained, "We have been working on expanding ICU and semi-ICU beds for the past two weeks to increase medical capacity, and patients who have recovered will be moved to semi-ICU or general wards, optimizing ICU usage to secure some leeway."

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