COVID-19 Severe Cases Near 600... More Challenging Severe Bed Admissions

Largest in over 4 months with 597 cases
Government conducts daily checks on critical patients
Discharge compliance period shortened from 2 days to 1 day

[Image source=Yonhap News]

As the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients hospitalized approaches 600, the government is tightening management of intensive care unit (ICU) beds. Patients whose condition is assessed daily and deemed not to require ICU beds will be transferred to general wards or other hospitals to prepare for future critical care demand.

According to the Central Disease Control Headquarters on the 29th, as of midnight, the number of critically ill COVID-19 patients was 597, marking the highest level in over four months since April 26 (613 patients). The number of new confirmed cases on the day was 43,142, which decreased to the level of four weeks ago on the 1st of this month (44,651 cases) based on Monday announcements, but the number of critically ill patients has remained above 500 for six consecutive days. The number of deaths due to COVID-19 recorded the previous day was 49.

Starting today, the health authorities will conduct a daily "appropriateness of hospitalization evaluation" for COVID-19 patients admitted to ICU beds in each hospital. This evaluation determines patient transfers (hospital relocation) or room changes, and the increase from four times a week to daily assessments is interpreted as an effort to strictly screen out patients who do not require ICU admission.

The "discharge implementation period," during which patients assessed as inappropriate for ICU admission must vacate the bed, will be shortened from within two days to within one day. However, if medical institutions submit documentation justifying the need for continued hospitalization, patients may remain after review.

This policy by the health authorities is seen as a measure to efficiently utilize ICU beds amid rising occupancy rates. It has been reported that some hospitals admitted patients with severity levels not qualifying for ICU or mild cases to ICU beds. The intention is also to reduce the government's financial burden by more closely managing ICU beds, which have higher fees provided by health insurance and require greater medical staff input.

Son Young-rae, head of the Social Strategy Division at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters, explained, "ICU beds are staffed with more medical personnel and have significantly higher fees provided by health insurance, so it is necessary to allocate them intensively to critically ill patients to ensure appropriate resource efficiency."

The ICU bed occupancy rate was only 5.3% on the 1st of last month but rose to 30.6% on the 1st of this month and 45.8% on the 24th. As of the 28th, the occupancy rate of dedicated ICU beds outside the metropolitan area surged to 50.4%. Although there is still capacity before reaching the commonly referenced bed limit (70% occupancy), preparations are needed for the possibility of a rapid increase in occupancy as critically ill patients are expected to continue rising for the time being.

However, some concerns have been raised that strengthening appropriateness management could lead to situations where patients whose condition rapidly worsens after the resurgence may not receive timely treatment in ICU beds. There are also criticisms that patients wanting to continue treatment in ICU beds may be forced to discharge, or that medical staff will bear the burden of writing medical opinions every time to continue treating critically ill patients.

Meanwhile, the government is expected to abolish pre-entry COVID-19 testing for travelers entering Korea after consultations with experts and related ministries this week. The most likely plan is to remove pre-entry testing for arrivals from all countries after the Chuseok holiday from the 9th to the 12th of next month, when overseas travel surges. However, since the resurgence has not completely subsided and imported cases remain high, some restrictions may still apply to unvaccinated individuals.

The plan to introduce updated vaccines in preparation for a large-scale outbreak in the fall and winter will be announced on the 31st. The updated vaccines developed by Pfizer and Moderna, currently under preliminary review by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, have preventive effects against the BA.1 variant, the original Omicron strain, but their effectiveness against the recently dominant BA.5 or BA.2.75 variants has not been confirmed.

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