The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients, which had been rapidly increasing each week as the summer season approached, is showing signs of slowing down.
Accordingly, quarantine authorities predict that the number of patients will remain similar to or lower than the previous peak at the end of this month, when it was predicted that the number would peak.
According to the ‘COVID-19 Hospitalization Surveillance Status’ released by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency on the 22nd, the number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 from the 11th to the 17th (33rd week), the third week of August, was 1,444. This is a 5.7% increase compared to the previous week, 32nd week (1,366 people).
Looking at the trend, it began to increase from the end of June, then increased from 91 people in the first week of July (week 27) to 148 people in the 28th week, and then increased from 226 people in the 29th week to 474 people in the 30th week, showing a whopping 109.7% increase.
However, the growth rate decreased to 85.7% from 880 people in the 31st week of August to 1,359 people in the 32nd week, and then showed a sharp slowdown from 1,366 people (55.2%) in the 33rd week to 1,444 people (5.7%) in the 34th week.
At a meeting of relevant government agencies on COVID-19 held this morning, Director-General of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Ji Young-mi explained, “The number of hospitalized patients in the third week of August increased slightly from last week to about 1,450, but the increase has slowed down to about 80 more than the 1,366 the week before.” She continued, “Compared to the 85.7% increase in COVID-19 hospitalized patients in the first week of August and the 55.2% increase in the second week of August, the increase rate has significantly decreased to 5.7%.”
“Considering this slowdown, we expect the summer outbreak to start declining this week or next week,” he said, adding, “We predict the number of cases will be smaller than the initial forecast of about 350,000 cases in the fourth week of August.”
Looking at hospitalized patients by age group, those aged 65 and older accounted for 65.6% (9,991 people) of the total number of hospitalized patients (15,224 people). This was followed by those aged 50-64 at 18.1% (2,752 people), those aged 19-49 at 10.2% (1,559 people), those aged 0-6 at 4.1% (612 people), and those aged 7-18 at 2% (310 people).
However, quarantine authorities plan to establish a medical response system to ensure that patients can receive timely treatment according to severity in preparation for an increase in the number of patients.
First, the Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to prepare measures to disperse mild COVID-19 patients visiting emergency rooms and continuously monitor the situation.
According to the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the number of COVID-19 patients visiting emergency rooms skyrocketed from 2,240 in June to 11,627 last month.
Accordingly, the Ministry of Health and Welfare plans to cooperate with fire departments and other organizations to disperse patients visiting regional and local emergency medical centers to local emergency medical institutions and facilities, and to establish and operate fever clinics through public hospitals, etc.
In addition, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency secured a reserve fund of 326.8 billion won and purchased an additional 260,000 doses of COVID-19 treatment.
Commissioner Youngmi Ji said, “Through consultations with global pharmaceutical companies, we have brought forward the schedule and quantity of treatment introduction so that 177,000 doses can be supplied by next Monday.”
Additionally, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety plans to conduct more thorough monitoring to ensure a smooth supply of self-testing kits.
According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, the supply of self-testing kits, which had been in short supply, is stabilizing as 10 domestic manufacturers produced a total of 5.61 million kits from August 1 to 20.
In addition, the Ministry of Education finalized the ‘COVID-19 Infection Prevention Guidelines’ in preparation for the start of the second semester and provided guidance to schools at all levels through provincial offices of education.
The preventive guidelines include a recommendation that students infected with COVID-19 with severe symptoms such as high fever or respiratory symptoms should not attend school and should return to school the day after the symptoms disappear. In this case, the period of absence from school is recognized as attendance.
It also includes the following: ▲Comply with basic hygiene rules such as hand washing, ventilation, and cough etiquette ▲Wear a mask when visiting medical institutions ▲If infected with COVID-19, wear a mask to protect others ▲Refrain from unnecessary meetings or going out.
Commissioner Ji Young-mi said, “Just as we all worked together to overcome COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic, we will overcome this summer’s outbreak together based on our experience responding to it so far.”
(Seoul = News 1)
2024-08-22 15:30:35