Lee Hyo-jin covers the Bank of Korea, the banking industry and broader financial news. Her previous beats include foreign affairs, North Korea and general reporting on Korean society.
Critically ill COVID-19 patients hit record high
Medical personnel work in an intensive care unit for critically ill coronavirus patients at a hospital in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Nov. 5. Yonhap
By Lee Hyo-jin
By Lee Hyo-jin
The number of critically ill COVID-19 patients here spiked to an all-time high Tuesday, raising concerns over whether the country will be able to move on to the next phase of the government's “Living with COVID-19” plan.
Critically ill patients refer to those requiring ventilators, high-flow oxygen therapy, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) or continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT).
Under the “Living with COVID-19” plan which began Nov. 1, the government is focusing more on the treatment of critical patients, rather than bringing down the number of daily new infections.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the country reported 460 such patients for Tuesday, up from 425 the previous day, hitting a record high for the COVID-19 pandemic which started here in February 2020. Of them, 82 percent were aged 60 or older.
The severely ill patients are currently occupying 57 percent of intensive care unit (ICU) beds available for COVID-19 patients across the country. In Seoul, 71 percent of ICU beds are occupied, while 73 percent and 68 percent are in Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, respectively.
The government said earlier that it would initiate a circuit breaker, or a contingency plan of halting the “Living with COVID-19” plan, if 75 percent of all ICU beds were filled.
The National Institute for Mathematical Science predicted that at this pace, the country may see over 800 critically ill patients next month.
Although the upsurge of patients in critical condition had been anticipated under the easing of social distancing rules, the steeper-than-expected increase has put the authorities on high alert.
“Quarantine metrics including the number of deaths and critically ill patients, as well as the reproduction number (the number of people infected by a single patient), are deteriorating faster than we expected,” Prime Minster Kim Boo-kyum said during a COVID-19 response meeting, Wednesday.
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum speaks during a COVID-19 response meeting held at Government Complex Seoul, Wednesday. Yonhap
“The current situation is manageable, but it is worrisome that it may worsen rapidly toward the year-end due to an increase in private gatherings and the cold weather,” he said.
The prime minister expressed concerns over a possible repeat of last winter's virus situation when the country grappled with a third wave of infections.
Medical experts believe that the surge of severely ill patients is closely linked to the number of new infections a few weeks ago.
“The uptick in the number of patients in critical condition was predictable, as seen by the number of new infections over the last two weeks. But eased distancing measures may have accelerated the increase,” said Kim Woo-joo, an infectious disease specialist at Korea University Guro Hospital.
“The government should come up with detailed contingency plans as we may continue to see the uptick for the next few weeks.”
The government, for its part, is putting more efforts into strengthening medical care capacity.
On Nov. 5, the Ministry of Health and Welfare issued an administrative order to general hospitals in the greater Seoul area to secure 402 additional hospital beds for COVID-19 patients. The KDCA said Wednesday that it will procure 60 ventilators and 33 ECMO machines at a cost of 6.7 billion won ($5.8 million).