COVID-19 Hospital Beds Reduced by 70.5%... "Prepared for Reemergence with Emergency Treatment Beds"

Cancellation of 20,656 Hospital Beds Designated Since Last April

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] On the 25th, the quarantine authorities announced that they have converted 20,656 hospital beds, which were designated for COVID-19 patient treatment, to general patient care use.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, the quarantine authorities stated that they are gradually adjusting the number of beds considering the declining trend of the outbreak and the transition to the general medical system.

According to the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, from April until the 24th of this month, 1,653 severe and moderate-severe beds and 19,003 moderate beds were de-designated. As of midnight on this day, the total number of available beds is 8,625. The nationwide bed occupancy rate is 17.1%.

Going forward, the quarantine authorities plan to gradually reduce the number of beds according to the trend of confirmed cases. However, severe and moderate-severe beds will be maintained mainly as emergency treatment beds, nationally designated inpatient treatment beds, and base hospital beds, preparing for a possible outbreak in the second half of the year.

On this day, Park Hyang, head of the quarantine team at the Central Accident Response Headquarters, said, "When a re-outbreak occurs, experts predict around 100,000 to 200,000 cases," adding, "There are already secured national isolation negative pressure rooms and emergency treatment beds, and base dedicated hospitals can operate until the end of the year, so we judge that we can respond to about 150,000 to 200,000 cases."

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