Korea facing shortage of hospital beds amid 3rd wave of infections

Students and teachers at a high school in Sejong City wait in line to go through COVID-19 testing, Friday, as several infections were reported there.

By Jun Ji-hye

The health authorities and experts here are raising concerns over a potential shortage of hospital beds to treat critically ill COVID-19 patients as new daily cases continue to surge amid a third wave of infections.

Experts say the country could face a shortage of intensive care beds in a few weeks if the spike in the number of coronavirus patients continues.

According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Friday, the nation added 569 infections including 525 locally transmitted cases for Thursday, raising the total caseload to 32,887. The new daily cases exceeded 500 for the second straight day.

Sohn Young-rae, a senior official at the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said the number of critically ill patients was 77 as of Friday, and among them, elderly patients accounted for about 20 percent.

"There are still 100 hospital beds available for serious cases as of Friday. The situation is okay for now, but if the surge in infections continues for more than two weeks, the intensive care system will face serious problems," Sohn said during a media briefing.

By region, 10 ICU beds remained for critically ill patients in Seoul, while three were left in Busan, and North Jeolla Province and Gwangju each had only one bed, according to the KDCA.

Joo Young-soo, a senior official at the National Medical Center who heads the COVID-19 joint response team, also warned of a potential shortage of space in intensive care units (ICUs).

"If the current trend continues, Seoul and surrounding areas will face a shortage of intensive care beds in the second week of December," he said during a recent press conference in Seoul.

Ki Mo-ran, an epidemiologist at the National Cancer Center, pointed out that not only a shortage of beds, but also a shortage of medical personnel will pose a serious threat to the country's fight against the public health crisis.

"The public sector should prepare for this by expanding ICUs by early next year and giving relevant education to medical staff," she said.

The KDCA said it has been consistently working to increase the number of intensive care beds for COVID-19 patients, noting that it is aiming to secure more than 200 new ones by the end of the year, and another 250 in the first half of next year.

Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun said the country is facing a grave crisis as it could follow in the footsteps of other countries that have already experienced an even more explosive increase in virus infections.

"Experts' warning that new daily cases here could reach 1,000 is becoming a reality," Chung said during a government meeting on the COVID-19 response, asking people to cooperate with the government in its fight against the virus and continue to comply with its social distancing rules.

He also called on the health authorities and local governments to work to secure a sufficient number of intensive care beds.

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