Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Korea's COVID-19 infections surpass 20,000
Citizens wait for virus tests at Seoul Medical Center in Seoul, Tuesday, when the accumulated number of COVID-19 cases surpassed 20,000. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
By Bahk Eun-ji
South Korea's total COVID-19 caseload exceeded 20,000, Tuesday, with the country seeing triple-digit daily increases for 19 consecutive days. The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 235 new cases Monday, including 222 local infections, raising the total case load to 20,182.
The daily number has dropped by almost half in five days since Aug. 27 when it peaked at 441, the highest daily rate in the last six months.
However, the health authorities said the situation is still unstable and there could be another resurgence at any time as among the local cases detected, 175 were in the capital area, home to half of the country's 51 million population ― Seoul reported 93 new cases, while the surrounding Gyeonggi Province and west port city of Incheon reported 60 and 22 each.
“The main reason for reinforcing social distancing measures is that we judged there was a limit to tracking the virus infection routes of individual patients through epidemiological investigations. So we want to control this increasing trend with stern social distancing rules,” KCDC chief Jeong Eun-kyeong said during a regular briefing at the Government Complex in Sejong.
In particular, cases tied to a conservative church in northern Seoul, and an Aug. 15 Liberation Day demonstration have been increasing, which stoked fears of bed shortages at critical care units.
The quarantine authorities are particularly concerned about the shortage of hospital beds as the number of patients in critical condition stood at 104, Monday, soaring from 12, Aug.19.
According to the Central Disaster Management Headquarters, there are only nine available hospital beds in the Seoul metropolitan area and 43 across the country that can immediately be used for COVID-19 patients in a serious or critical condition.
“Among the confirmed cases, people in their 60s or older account for a significant proportion, and we also predict that the number of patients in a critical condition will keep increasing,” said Yoon Tae-ho, a senior official at the health ministry during a regular coronavirus response briefing at the government complex. “We are continuing to secure beds for patients in critical condition in consultation with university hospitals, especially hospitals in the metropolitan area.”
The government has also secured more space for asymptomatic and mild patients who can be placed in community treatment center.
“We are making every effort to secure sufficient hospital rooms and community treatment centers so that patients can receive proper treatment in a timely manner,” Yoon said.
In order to increase the availability of hospital beds, the number of medical staff should also be increased. However, the government is having a hard time doing this as medical doctors continue their strike which started Aug. 21.
“There is considerable difficulty in securing medical workers to treat patients in a critical condition due to the doctors' strike. In order to treat patients, interns and residents should end their collective action as soon as possible and return to work,” Yoon said.