 |
| Medical staff fighting the COVID-19 outbreak at Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center in Daegu go to a staff lounge to rest after finishing work Monday. / Yonhap |
By Jun Ji-hye
Doctors, nurses and other medical professionals here are complaining about fatigue and exhaustion as the number of coronavirus patients continues to increase in Daegu and other parts of the country, according to officials from local governments and hospitals Monday.
Acute fatigue has led some nurses to quit en masse, causing shortages in Daegu and neighboring North Gyeongsang Province, which the new coronavirus has hit hardest.
Korea has reported thousands of infected patients, of whom more than 80 percent have come from Daegu and North Gyeongsang Province.
Pohang Medical Center in North Gyeongsang Province ― which the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention designated as a hospital to handle exclusively coronavirus patients ― is grappling with a shortage of medical personnel after 16 of about 100 nurses quit last week.
The 16 nurses cited overwork, in addition to personal reasons such as the need to take care of their children, as their reasons for quitting. Medical staff at hospitals designated to care for coronavirus patients must stay within the hospital and are not allowed to return to their homes until the outbreak ends.
 |
| Emergency crew move general patients from Pohang Medical Center in North Gyeongsang Province to other hospitals, Feb. 24, amid an increase in coronavirus patients at the medical center. / Yonhap |
Amid the staff shortage, North Gyeongsang Provincial Government and Pohang City Government have received 15 replacement nurses after asking the Korean Nurses Association for support.
Pohang City Government also pledged to send 16 medical personnel, 24 administrative support workers and 10 volunteers to the medical center, but concerns over staffing issues still abound as COVID-19 continues to spread.
"Pohang Medical Center was put on emergency alert for a while after some nurses quit their jobs, but there will not be any big problems as we have received replacement nurses and volunteer workers," a North Gyeongsang Provincial Government official said. "We will continue to help local hospitals with various means of support so patients receive treatment without difficulty."
Keimyung University Dongsan Medical Center in Daegu said it needed more medical personnel, adding that a doctor specializing in infectious diseases had fallen unconscious from serious fatigue.
However, the doctor continued to attend to patients once he had regained consciousness, according to the hospital.
An increasing number of medical staff at other hospitals including Andong Medical Center also say they intend to resign because they are 'at their limit'.
"Nurses at other hospitals could quit their jobs en masse soon, like those in Pohang Medical Center, if conditions do not change," a hospital official, who asked not to be named, said.
Later on Monday ― in a bid to encourage and support medical staff ― North Gyeongsang Provincial Government said it would pay staff an increased wage until the public health crisis ends.
Doctors will receive up to an additional 550,000 won ($460) a day while nurses will receive an extra 300,000 won.
![[INTERVIEW] Im Si-wan finds own narrative for villain role in 'Emergency Declaration'](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/bfa7ef2cf863407995b8b34d77351afb.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
