Health experts call for toughest social distancing measures yet

People wait in line to receive coronavirus tests at a temporary screening center in Songpa District, Seoul, Sunday. Yonhap

By Bahk Eun-ji

Epidemiologists are calling on the government to implement its toughest-yet social distancing measures, as the current COVID-19 situation is growing beyond the nation's medical capacity.

They say it is going to be difficult to turn around the current virus situation and control the soaring number of daily infections, which has hovered around 7,000 daily new cases over the last week, with the government's recent new measures, including shortening the dosage interval for booster shots, as it will take at least two months for the policy to take a noticeable effect.

Chon Eun-mi, a professor of respiratory medicine at Ewha Womans University Mok-dong Hospital, warned that if no stricter measures are taken immediately, the country's medical system could collapse, as the number of daily infections could possibly reach 10,000, or even double in just a couple of days.

"In this situation, only stronger lockdown measures, on the premise of sufficient compensation for losses to small business owners and self-employed people, will be effective," Jung Ki-seok, a professor of pulmonary vascular disease at Hallym University Medical Center, said.

"All multiuse facilities where users remove their masks should be temporarily suspended. If the government hesitates, we will not be able to stop further damage and casualties."

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Their warnings and calls for stronger measures reflect the gravity of the situation, in which daily infections and critical cases keep increasing and the medical system is on the verge of overload.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the country reported 6,689 new infections for Saturday. The number of critically ill patients stood at 894, the all-time high seen here during the pandemic.

The shortage of hospital beds in Seoul and the surrounding metropolitan area has been growing.

According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of Saturday, 1,739 patients in the greater Seoul area have been waiting to be hospitalized due to the shortage of ICU beds. These include people aged over 70 and those with chronic illnesses.

Of them, 292 have been waiting for more than four days. A total of 29 people have died while waiting at home for hospital beds over the past five weeks.

The intensifying situation is forcing the government to consider toughening the social distancing measures, which had been eased since it adopted the "Living with COVID-19" scheme on Nov. 1.

"If we conclude that the current crisis is unlikely to improve in the near future, we will have no choice but to implement special quarantine measures, including strong social distancing rules," Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said in a Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting on Friday.

Regarding the "special quarantine measures," Lee Ki-Il, the deputy minister of health care policy at the health ministry, said that these may include placing a curfew on the operating hours of multiuse facilities and strengthening restrictions for private gatherings.

The strongest social distancing rules so far were applied at the end of last year, including banning private gatherings of five or more people and allowing only takeout or delivery for restaurants and cafes after 9 p.m.

"If the virus spread trend does not stop, we plan to consider even stronger measures," Lee said.

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