Will Daily Life Recovery Halt... Experts Say "Emergency Plan Should Have Already Been Activated"

Strengthening Private Gathering Standards Under Review
"Hospital Beds Are Scarce, but Activation Effect Will Only Appear After 3 Weeks"

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jung] As the number of new COVID-19 cases and critically ill patients continue to break records daily, the implementation of the second phase of the "gradual recovery to daily life (With COVID-19)" scheduled for mid-next month is at a crossroads.

The government plans to activate the "emergency plan (circuit breaker)" as soon as possible due to the severe shortage of hospital beds in the metropolitan area and to undertake a full-scale reform of the medical response system, including the activation of home treatment. The government is also considering temporarily strengthening the private gathering limit, currently restricted to 10 people, if the severe situation continues.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on the 24th, a total of 778 COVID-19 patients in the metropolitan area have been waiting for hospital beds for more than one day. In particular, six patients waiting for hospitalization over the past three weeks from the 31st of last month to the 20th of this month have died, increasing the sense of crisis.

The government anticipates that the scale of the outbreak will grow larger during the winter season alongside the With COVID-19 implementation and is actively reviewing whether to activate the emergency plan. This afternoon, a closed meeting of the quarantine subcommittee composed of quarantine and medical experts was held, and after the 4th meeting of the Daily Recovery Support Committee on the 25th, measures to strengthen quarantine will be finalized. The application of the quarantine pass (vaccination certificate/negative test confirmation system) is also expected to be expanded. Priority quarantine passes will be applied to youths visiting karaoke rooms and large concert halls, and setting an expiration date for the quarantine pass is also a likely measure.

Experts unanimously agree that the emergency plan should be activated promptly as the shortage of intensive care beds has brought medical response capacity to its limit.

Professor Cheon Eun-mi of the Department of Respiratory Medicine at Ewha Mokdong Hospital said, "Although the shortage of beds and medical personnel has been reported for two weeks, discussions on activating the emergency plan are only now taking place, leading to criticism that the medical field's response is already too late," adding, "Even if the emergency plan is activated this week, its effects will only appear after three weeks, so quarantine strengthening must be expedited."

Professor Eom Jung-sik of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Gachon University Gil Medical Center said, "Looking only at the status of intensive care beds in the metropolitan area, the emergency plan should have already been activated," but added, "However, if the emergency plan is activated only in the metropolitan area, there may be a concentration of patients in non-metropolitan areas, and if it is not applied nationwide simultaneously, its effectiveness may decrease, so nationwide consensus is necessary."

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