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| Health officials conduct COVID-19 testing on residents at a public health center in Cheongyang County, South Chungcheong Province, Thursday, as a kimchi factory there emerged as a new infection cluster. / Yonhap |
Government struggles to secure sickbeds
By Jun Ji-hye
The government is scrambling to secure hospital beds for COVID-19 patients suffering severe symptoms as their numbers are soaring amid a second wave of infections here, the health authorities said Thursday.
Considering the possibility of further increases in the number of critically ill patients, the government will convert some sections of a military hospital to intensive care units to provide more beds, the authorities said.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) reported 195 additional infections Wednesday, including 188 locally transmitted ones, with the total caseload now reaching 20,644.
It added that three more patients had died from COVID-19, raising the death toll to 329.
The number of daily new cases fell to below 200 for the first time in 17 days, but the number of seriously ill patients hit a record high of 154, increasing by 31 in just a day.
The figure has increased rapidly from the 9 recorded Aug. 18.
"We will designate hospitals to treat virus patients in a serious condition to secure 110 additional beds for such patients by the end of the month," Yoon Tae-ho, a senior health ministry official in charge of containment measures, said during a media briefing. "The Ministry of National Defense will designate eight beds at the Armed Forces Capital Hospital as intensive care beds, Friday."
The authorities said they are staying on high alert as the number of serious ill patients has already exceeded a prediction from a panel of health experts who expected the figure to reach about 130 at the beginning of September.
They said the government will set up a taskforce with the National Medical Center and other research institutions to analyze how many more seriously ill patients may emerge, and establish appropriate countermeasures.
The authorities are also staying vigilant over continuous reports of sporadic infection clusters traced to a variety of places including apartment blocks, nursing homes and gyms as well as churches.
Among the virus hotbeds is the Sarang Jeil Church in Seoul led by conservative pastor Jun Kwang-hoon who has led several anti-government rallies, with the most recent one held in central Seoul Aug. 15. The rally brought together thousands of demonstrators despite the government's advice to follow social distancing guidelines.
According to the KCDC, 22 more infections were traced to the church, raising the total related cases to 1,139, as of noon Thursday.
The government and the Seoul Metropolitan Government filed a complaint against Jun, Aug. 16, for violating the country's Infectious Disease Prevention Law by intentionally concealing a list of the names of the church's congregants.
Jun himself tested positive for COVID-19, Aug. 17.
On Wednesday, when Jun was discharged from a hospital, police raided his house and three other facilities related to the church to secure evidence that the church has disrupted the government's efforts to stem the virus spread.
Meanwhile, Lee Jae-hyun, the head of Incheon's Seo-gu, tested positive for the virus, also Wednesday, becoming the first head of local governments confirmed to have COVID-19.
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