[Initial Report] Health Center on the Verge of Collapse

On the 15th, when 7,850 new COVID-19 cases and 964 critically ill patients were recorded, marking the highest numbers ever, citizens visiting the screening clinic set up at Songpa-gu Public Health Center in Seoul are waiting to be tested. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo So-jeong] "I have been trying to call for four days straight. Getting through to a public health center staff member is like 'catching a star in the sky.'

Due to the surge in COVID-19 confirmed cases, public health centers, which protect the health of local residents on the front lines, have been virtually overwhelmed. A resident of Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, said, "I tried to inquire at the public health center about my daughter’s self-quarantine status during her school vacation in the United States, but I haven’t been able to get through for several days," adding, "I need to confirm whether self-quarantine is possible and book a plane ticket, but I can’t get confirmation." The government decided the day before to extend the 10-day quarantine requirement for all overseas arrivals until the 6th of next month in response to the new Omicron variant.

Even in critical situations, calls often go unanswered. When a COVID-19 patient needs an emergency 119 ambulance, contact with the public health center is sometimes not established for tens of minutes, delaying patient transport. A hospital official in the metropolitan area said, "The hospital contacts the public health center to report the need for an ambulance, but the public health center staff do not answer the phone for over 30 minutes." Kim, who is undergoing home treatment with a child, said, "I called the public health center because my child’s fever wouldn’t go down, but I couldn’t get through at all," adding, "When I finally got through, it just felt like being left alone at home." A home treatment patient whose oxygen saturation dropped to a dangerous level reported, "It took two hours to get in touch with the person in charge."

As public health center personnel are massively deployed to COVID-19 response tasks, routine duties have also been suspended. Due to the record-high number of confirmed cases, public health centers are focusing their efforts on epidemiological investigations and operating screening clinics, leading to the suspension of health promotion and general medical services they previously handled. Many public health centers have changed their policies to suspend or switch to non-face-to-face services, pushing tasks such as prescription issuance, home health care, dementia respite center operation, and newborn vaccination to the back burner.

Public health center staff are also expressing distress over the intense workload. A public health center official said, "Everyone has been burned out due to COVID-19 continuing for two years, and many employees are considering quitting due to severe fatigue and depression," adding, "What’s more painful is that with the recent surge in confirmed cases, there seems to be no end in sight," sighing deeply.

While there is an outcry over manpower shortages on the ground, the government’s measures remain lukewarm. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has started to increase public health center personnel, but the field insists that the number is far from sufficient compared to the surge in confirmed cases and the rapidly increasing number of civil complaints. In Seoul, where cases are concentrated, the number of epidemiological investigators has not increased compared to a year ago and has actually decreased. This has led to criticism that the quarantine authorities have effectively given up on epidemiological investigations. Especially as the number of home treatment patients rose to 26,668 on this day, public health centers, which must also manage these patients, require two to three times more staff, but no personnel reinforcement is taking place.

Experts unanimously agree that the government should immediately halt the phased return to normal life (With COVID) and begin reorganizing the medical system. Not only the medical sites treating COVID-19 patients but also public health centers responsible for managing the health of local residents on the front lines are on the verge of collapse. The excessive workload concentrated on public health centers threatens the lives and safety of the public. It is hoped that the government will listen to the voices from the field and actively increase staffing.

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