Prime Minister Kim: "Preparing for '15,000 Daily Confirmed Cases'... 25,000 Moderate to Severe Beds" (Update)

COVID-19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters Meeting

Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum is presiding over the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting for COVID-19 response at the Government Seoul Office on the morning of the 22nd. 2021.12.22 [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Son Seon-hee] Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said on the 22nd, "We will expand hospital beds to a level that can handle even if 10,000 new COVID-19 cases continue to occur daily," adding, "We will secure an additional 10,000 moderate to severe beds by mid-January next year, increasing the current 15,000 beds to a total of 25,000." He emphasized, "We will prepare measures in advance to handle up to 15,000 new cases per day."

On the same day, Prime Minister Kim chaired the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting at the Government Complex Seoul and said, "The government will swiftly reorganize the medical response system and focus on increasing the third vaccination for the elderly and vaccination rates among adolescents to strengthen the defense against the pandemic."

He also stated, "Some public hospitals such as the National Medical Center, Seoul Medical Center, and Veterans Hospitals will be vacated and converted into dedicated COVID-19 hospitals," and added, "To strengthen critical care capacity, more than 300 severe beds will be additionally secured at national university hospitals such as Seoul National University Hospital." He further mentioned, "We plan to secure an additional 3,000 beds by designating more base dedicated hospitals."

The government also plans to support the expansion of medical personnel, which has been continuously requested by the medical community. Prime Minister Kim said, "Military doctors and public health doctors will be prioritized for deployment to COVID-19 treatment hospitals, nurses who have completed critical care training will be immediately deployed on-site, and financial support for medical personnel will be further strengthened."

He continued, "We will additionally expand beds at residential treatment centers to a total of about 20,000 and optimize bed operations at each stage from admission to discharge to maximize actual utilization rates," emphasizing, "We earnestly request active cooperation from frontline medical institutions and personnel, and the government clearly promises not to spare financial support for COVID-19 treatment hospitals."

On the fifth day since the suspension of phased daily recovery and the reimplementation of strong social distancing measures, Prime Minister Kim expressed a cautious stance, saying, "It is still difficult to gauge whether the spread is calming down," and "This is a situation where we cannot afford to lower our guard even for a moment."

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