Government "Considering 'Special Measures' if Continuous Worsening of the Outbreak Occurs"

On the 13th, as the spread of COVID-19 continues, the temporary screening clinic at Seoul Plaza is crowded with citizens. Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Chun-hee] The quarantine authorities have taken a cautious stance on the current special measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. While continuously expanding the most critical medical response capacity, they also stated that they will provide a more accurate understanding of the current situation through detailed statistical segmentation.

On the morning of the 13th, Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, responded to a question about the timing of announcing "extraordinary measures" during a COVID-19 back briefing, saying, "We need to observe the situation this week," and added, "If the epidemic continues to worsen and the medical system's capacity decreases to a dangerous level, we will consider extraordinary measures." Regarding specific matters, he explained, "We need to discuss and decide," but also said, "We will discuss strengthening social responses a bit more."

Park Hyang, head of the Quarantine General Division, also added, "We need to look at the number and scale of confirmed cases while monitoring mobility and vaccination speed through risk assessment," and said, "We will conduct a comprehensive evaluation within this week."

The government plans to continuously expand the medical response capacity, which is currently identified as the highest risk area. To reduce the number of elderly patients waiting in the metropolitan area, the government will sequentially operate six infectious disease-dedicated nursing hospitals (821 beds) from the 13th to the 20th.

However, the government drew a line against claims that living treatment centers should be converted into intensive care institutions or that gymnasiums should be mobilized. Park explained, "Although medical elements are added at the base living treatment centers, they still monitor the condition before progressing from mild to moderate severity," and said, "It is not appropriate to move severe patients to living treatment centers." Son also explained, "Intensive care units are highly specialized treatment facilities equipped with advanced medical equipment and specialized medical personnel who respond immediately to deteriorations that may lead to death," and added, "Living treatment centers do not have the conditions to provide such high-intensity treatment, and it is almost impossible to operate them as such."

The government is also continuously expanding living treatment centers. Although it takes some time to establish the system by suspending the operation of training centers and education centers and deploying facility management and medical management personnel, it is gradually expanding. The current goal is to secure 2,000 beds.

The quarantine authorities also expressed concerns that the current issue of bed shortages is somewhat exaggerated. Son said, "Among the patients waiting for beds, there are almost no patients with severe conditions requiring intensive care units," and added, "These patients are admitted as a top priority." He further explained, "The total number of hospital waiting patients is being used as the overall figure by announcing patients waiting for more than one day at once," and said, "We are considering a plan to separate and guide those waiting for hospital admission and those waiting for admission to living treatment centers as distinct concepts."

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