Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, Young-Mi Ji, presides over a joint meeting of relevant ministries
Hospitalized Patient Increase Rate 55.2→5.7%… “Will be Below 350,000”
Securing spare beds in public hospitals… Treatments introduced on the 26th
The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients has increased more than sixfold compared to a month ago, but the rate of increase has slowed compared to the previous week. The government expects the number of cases to be smaller than the initially predicted 350,000, and plans to make all-out efforts to stabilize COVID-19, including accelerating the supply of treatments.
On the 22nd, Director of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Ji Young-mi held a joint meeting with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the Office for Government Policy Coordination, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, the Ministry of Education, and other relevant ministries to share trends in the summer COVID-19 epidemic and review response measures.
◆Increase in hospitalized patients 55.2 → 5.7%… “Confirmed cases likely to decrease more than expected”
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the number of hospitalized patients under surveillance for COVID-19 has been on the rise since late June, reaching a record high of 1,444 in the third week of August. This is a 6.4-fold increase from the 226 patients in the third week of July, a month ago.
However, the growth rate is slowing down. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients increased by 109.7% from 226 in the third week of July to 474 in the fourth week of July. The number increased by 85.7% to 880 in the first week of August, and by 55.2% to 1,366 in the second week of August. The number increased to 1,444 in the third week of August, but the growth rate slowed significantly to 5.7%.
By age group of hospitalized patients, patients aged 65 and older accounted for 65.6% of all hospitalized patients. Those aged 50 to 64 accounted for 18.1%, those aged 19 to 49 accounted for 10.2%, those aged 0 to 6 accounted for 4.1%, and those aged 7 to 18 accounted for 2.0%.
The share of KP.3 among the domestic COVID-19 variant viruses continued to increase, reaching 56.3% as of the second week of August, up 10.8 percentage points (p) from 45.5% in July. In wastewater monitoring, the concentration of the COVID-19 virus in wastewater increased by 22 percentage points (p) in week 32 (August 4-10) compared to the previous week, increasing for 7 consecutive weeks.
The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency estimated that the number of new patients would increase by the end of this month to a level similar to the previous year’s peak of 350,000, taking into account the number of hospitalized patients under surveillance, but predicted that the number could be similar to or even decrease compared to the previous year’s peak as the trend of increase in hospitalized patients under surveillance has slowed over the past week (August 11-17).
◆Establishment of public hospital cooperation system… 177,000 treatment doses introduced on the 26th
The Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to establish a medical response system to ensure that patients can receive timely treatment according to the severity of their symptoms in preparation for an increase in COVID-19 patients.
Recently, the number of COVID-19 patients visiting emergency rooms has increased from 2,240 in June to 11,627 in July, with both moderate and mild cases increasing. Accordingly, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has prepared measures to disperse mild COVID-19 patients visiting emergency rooms.
In particular, in cooperation with fire departments, etc., we plan to disperse patients visiting regional and local emergency medical centers to local emergency medical institutions and facilities, and establish and operate fever clinics through public hospitals, etc.
In addition, we plan to secure spare beds at public hospitals that were previously operated as COVID-19 base hospitals so that COVID-19 patients can receive treatment quickly at hospitals in their respective regions. In case of the occurrence of critically ill patients, a joint response situation room will be established at the National Medical Center to secure and coordinate beds.
We will also mobilize medical infrastructure related to infectious diseases, such as operating nationally designated hospital beds and emergency treatment beds, including regional infectious disease hospitals, and designating additional treatment beds for severely ill patients when necessary.
In addition, through consultation with global pharmaceutical companies, the original schedule for supplying 140,000 doses of treatment next week was shortened to 177,000 doses on the 26th, and the quantity was increased. It is expected that the supply issue will stabilize as additional supplies including surplus doses can be supplied to both countries next week.
Domestic manufacturers have also expanded production of self-testing kits, producing 610,000 units between the 1st and 20th. They are currently being distributed to consumers through online retailers and convenience stores, and it is reported that supply at pharmacies is also stabilizing.
The Ministry of Education also provided ‘COVID-19 Infection Prevention Guidelines’ to schools at all levels through city offices of education. Accordingly, all schools are currently conducting their own education on prevention guidelines for students and faculty when the semester begins.
Students infected with COVID-19 who have high fever or severe respiratory symptoms are advised not to attend school, recover at home, and return to school the day after their symptoms disappear. The period of absence from school is also recognized as attendance.
Director-General of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Ji Young-mi said, “We are rapidly sharing information related to COVID-19 through meetings of relevant ministries and responding to the summer epidemic through close cooperation between ministries,” adding, “We will overcome this summer epidemic together based on our experience responding to it so far.”
[세종=뉴시스]
2024-08-22 10:33:31