906 Critically Ill Patients and 94 Deaths... Record High Every Morning

One Month and a Half into With-Corona
Severe Cases Increase 2.6 Times, Deaths 10 Times

17 Deaths Before Hospitalization in One Week

The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients exceeded 900 for the first time on the 14th. The number of critically ill patients, which was 343 on the 1st of last month, increased 2.6 times in a month and a half. The number of deaths also increased more than tenfold, from 9 to 94 during the same period. As the nationwide COVID-19 intensive care unit occupancy rate approaches 82%, medical staff are working in the treatment ward control room at Misodeul Hospital in Guro-gu, Seoul, the day before.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] Just one month and a half after the implementation of the "gradual return to normal life (With Corona)" policy, the spread of COVID-19 has surged, with critically ill patients nearing 1,000 and deaths approaching 100.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 14th, as of midnight, there were 906 critically ill patients hospitalized, and 94 new deaths were reported, both record highs. Compared to the 1st of last month, critically ill patients increased 2.6 times from 343 to 906, and deaths increased about 10 times from 9 to 94.

The number of new confirmed cases was 5,567, marking over 5,000 cases for two consecutive days. This is the highest number recorded for a Monday (Tuesday report). Due to the "weekend effect," where the number of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests decreases on weekends, the number of new confirmed cases dropped by 250 compared to the previous day, but the weekly average of locally transmitted cases, adjusted for day-of-week variations, increased for the 35th consecutive day to 6,589. The weekly average of critically ill patients rose from 338 on the 1st of last month to 869 on this day, a 2.6-fold increase, and deaths increased 5.1 times from 12 to 61.

Considering that it usually takes 1 to 2 weeks for COVID-19 infections to become critical and another 1 to 2 weeks to result in death, the scale of critically ill patients and deaths is expected to continue increasing. Given that the weekly average of locally transmitted cases was 3,031 three weeks ago on the 23rd of last month, it implies that by the end of this year, the current scale of critically ill patients and deaths could double.

The shortage of medical personnel and hospital beds is also worsening. Although the government is continuously expanding hospital beds, as of 5 p.m. the previous day, 81.8% (1,053 out of 1,288) of intensive care unit beds nationwide were in use. In the metropolitan area, 86.2% (713 out of 827) of ICU beds were occupied.

The number of patients waiting for bed allocation is 808. As the wait for bed assignment lengthens, cases of death before hospitalization are also increasing. From the 5th to the 11th, among COVID-19 deaths, 1 person died before bed allocation, and 16 died while waiting for bed allocation.

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