Government to Expand Confirmed COVID-19 Maternity Beds to 250 and Dialysis Beds to 600

Simplification of Protective Gear for Paramedics Transporting Confirmed Patients

[Asia Economy Reporter Ki Ha-young]The government announced on the 7th that it will increase the number of hospital beds for mothers and dialysis patients confirmed with COVID-19 to about 250 and 600 respectively by next week, and support safe delivery and dialysis at their usual hospitals.

Kwon Deok-cheol, First Deputy Head of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters (Minister of Health and Welfare), said in his opening remarks at the Central Disaster Headquarters meeting that day, "We will increase the number of beds for confirmed mothers to about 250 by next week and improve and organize health insurance fees so that they can safely give birth at the general hospitals they usually attend."

He also stated, "We will expand the number of beds for confirmed dialysis patients to about 600 by next week and actively support them to continue treatment at their usual dialysis medical institutions." Earlier, on the 4th, the government released a list of 28 'Pediatric Specialized Dedicated Hospitals' capable of outpatient treatment and hospitalization for pediatric confirmed cases.

The intensive care medical institutions supporting home treatment for high-risk groups will be expanded with a goal of about 850 hospital-level and about 300 clinic-level institutions. In addition, to ensure that the rapidly increasing elderly patients receive timely and appropriate treatment, 2,275 additional moderate-severity beds will be secured, and the bed efficiency measures previously applied only to intensive care units have been expanded to semi-severe and moderate-severity beds since the 4th.

Deputy Head Kwon emphasized, "The recent daily average number of confirmed cases has reached 200,000, which may cause great anxiety and concern among the public," but added, "The operation rates of intensive care beds and moderate-severity beds are 59.8% and 49.3% respectively, so the medical system is operating within a manageable range." He also stated, "We will form a government-wide bed inspection task force (TF) involving the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Office for Government Policy Coordination to continuously improve the bed system."

With the suspension of the vaccine pass starting this month, he also urged compliance with quarantine rules and the third vaccination. Deputy Head Kwon said, "Although the vaccine pass has been suspended, vaccination is necessary to view the risk of Omicron at the level of influenza," explaining, "The fatality rate of Omicron is 0.08% when fully vaccinated, similar to influenza, but 0.6% when unvaccinated, which is more than six times that of influenza." He added, "Less than 5% of the population is unvaccinated, but they account for about 50% of all severe and fatal cases," and urged, "Unvaccinated individuals should strictly follow quarantine rules, and those eligible for the third vaccination should actively participate for their own safety and health."

Meanwhile, starting from the 8th, the protective clothing for paramedics transporting confirmed patients will be simplified from 'Level D' to a '4-piece full-body gown set.' The 4-piece set consists of a long-sleeved gown, goggles or face shield, gloves, and a mask.

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