Disease Control Center: “Estimated 170,000 confirmed cases per week”
As the number of patients with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has surged by about 22 times in just six weeks, shortages of treatments and diagnostic kits are occurring all over the country. There are criticisms that health authorities failed to properly prepare for a resurgence of COVID-19 this summer, even though it was fully expected.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 15th, the number of confirmed COVID-19 hospitalized patients in the second week of August (August 4-10) was 1,357, an increase of about 22-fold in just six weeks from 63 in the fourth week of June (June 23-29). This is a sample surveillance of 220 hospital-level or higher medical institutions. Considering that there are about 1,800 hospital-level medical institutions nationwide and that there are mild patients who are not hospitalized, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency estimates that there were about 170,000 confirmed cases in the second week of August.
About half of the hospitalized patients are known to have the ‘Omicron KP.3’ variant. Omicron variants have a low severity but high transmissibility, so they tend to spread rapidly.
Due to the surge in confirmed cases, many hospitals and pharmacies are struggling to secure COVID-19 treatments and diagnostic kits, including Paxrobid. According to data submitted by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency to the office of Han Ji-ah, a member of the People Power Party and a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, as of the first week of August, the total number of applications for treatment at hospitals and pharmacies nationwide was 198,000, while the supply was only 33,000 (16.7%).
A professor at a university hospital in the metropolitan area said, “Oral medications are completely sold out, and the supply of injections is not smooth, so we are carefully prescribing them only for severe cases and the elderly.” When the Dong-A Ilbo contacted six pharmacies selling COVID-19 treatments on the 15th, four said, “We have not secured the treatment.” Even the two pharmacies that responded, “We have the treatment,” had less than 10 units in stock, which could be depleted in a day or two.
Medical community: “An expected resurgence, a complacent response” Disease control agency: “The increase exceeds expectations”
Coronavirus hospitalizations increase 22-fold in 6 weeks
Authorities: “Preparing 10 times the amount of treatment compared to last year”
“Demand this year is 35 times higher than before the pandemic”
Considering resumption of vaccinations suspended at the end of June
“COVID-19 treatments are in short supply and social distancing measures have disappeared, so the number of confirmed cases is likely to increase further. I’m afraid for next week,” a professor of infectious disease at a university hospital in the metropolitan area told the Dong-A Ilbo on the 15th, adding, “In the future, there will inevitably be more hospitalizations or critically ill patients in the high-risk group who were not administered antiviral treatments.” Many in the medical community are pointing out that the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) made the situation worse by being complacent despite the fact that a resurgence of COVID-19 this summer was expected.
● “About 170,000 confirmed cases in the second week of August”
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency is known to estimate that the number of confirmed cases per week for the second week of August will be around 170,000, which is half of the number of confirmed cases (350,000) in the second week of August, which was the peak of the resurgence last summer. The number of confirmed cases may increase for the time being, as the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency predicts that “the number of confirmed cases will peak in late August or early September and then decrease.”
The medical community points out that this summer’s resurgence could have been fully predicted. This is because COVID-19 has been repeatedly spreading again every five to six months as new mutations emerge. In August of last year and February of this year, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases temporarily increased as the virus spread again.
Here, we should have prepared sufficiently considering the fact that not many people were vaccinated last year, that ventilation and wearing masks are not easy in the summer, and that the immunity of confirmed patients and vaccinated people is also decreasing.
● Disease Control and Prevention Agency: “We prepared 10 times, but it increased 35 times”
As the number of confirmed cases skyrocketed and a shortage of treatments appeared, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency announced, “We will supply additional treatments starting from the 16th.” However, experts unanimously say, “It is too late.” Professor Lee Jae-gap of the Department of Infectious Diseases at Hallym University College of Medicine said, “Even if the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases increases, if there is a treatment, it will not lead to severe cases or death. If there was a treatment, we would not have felt this sense of crisis.”
A KCDC official explained that this was because the increase in confirmed cases was greater than expected. “Last summer, during the COVID-19 resurgence, the amount of treatment used was 10 times higher than it was 3 to 4 months ago,” a KCDC official said. “We took this into account when preparing for this year as well, but the scale of the outbreak is larger than expected. The current amount of treatment used has increased by about 35 times compared to April and May of this year.”
● The claim that “vaccination should resume”
Some are also pointing out that the COVID-19 vaccination should be resumed. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency ended the first half of the vaccination at the end of June and is currently not administering the vaccine. In October, a vaccine that is effective against the KP.3 variant was introduced and the vaccination was suspended from July to September in order to administer it together with the influenza vaccine. However, there are internal criticisms that “is it right not to administer the vaccine when COVID-19 confirmed cases are pouring in?” and they are considering a plan to resume the vaccination.
Health authorities are also encouraging the expansion of production of diagnostic kits, which are in short supply along with treatments. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the top seven diagnostic kit manufacturers produced 1.62 million self-testing kits between the 8th and 13th, but they are selling out immediately on site. An official at a pharmacy in Seoul said, “On the 14th, 20 COVID-19 diagnostic kits arrived, but we can’t even last a day with these.”
Local governments and provincial offices of education have also entered emergency systems due to the resurgence of COVID-19. Gyeonggi Province decided to activate the Infectious Disease Management Task Force (TF) from the 19th to strengthen COVID-19 monitoring. Jeju Island is planning a mock training to respond to the outbreak of group patients. Incheon Metropolitan Office of Education decided to conduct voluntary infectious disease inspections at all schools for two weeks before and after the start of the new school year.
Reporter Jo Yu-ra [email protected]
Reporter Park Kyung-min [email protected]
Incheon = Reporter Cha Jun-ho [email protected]
Suwon = Reporter Jo Young-dal [email protected]
2024-08-15 20:58:10