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Source: http://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20211122000726
COVID-19 situation ‘very dangerous,’ says Korea’s disease control chief
More than 900 patients waiting for a hospital bed to open up
By Kim Arin
Published : Nov 22, 2021 - 15:28 Updated : Nov 22, 2021 - 18:10
The head of Korea’s disease control agency said Monday that the state of the COVID-19 outbreak here has gone from “low risk” to “high risk” over the last three weeks as the country began its phased return to normal.
Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong told a televised briefing that “intensive care beds at Seoul hospitals were nearly full to the brink,” with other metrics worsening all across the country.
In response to press inquiries, she said that Korea “may decide whether to bring back some of the lifted restrictions” next week, as the first of the three-phase return to normal comes to an end. But she said that for the time being, subjecting only Seoul -- the epicenter of the country’s outbreak -- to intensive social distancing once again was not being considered internally.
By Sunday at midnight, 907 COVID-19 patients around the country were unable to be admitted to a hospital for more than a day, and 137 of them had waited four days or longer, according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. On the day prior, 804 patients were waiting for an available bed. At least six have died while waiting on a bed.
After setting a new high of 522 on Nov. 17, the number of patients with severe or critical COVID-19 has been hovering around 500, which is the initially estimated threshold for keeping hospitals running without being overburdened.
The seven-day average of daily deaths climbed to 26 from the previous week’s 19. The case fatality rate so far this month stood at 0.84 percent, which is more than double the rate seen in June of 0.35 percent, before the fourth wave hit and the delta variant took hold...
COVID-19 situation ‘very dangerous,’ says Korea’s disease control chief
More than 900 patients waiting for a hospital bed to open up
By Kim Arin
Published : Nov 22, 2021 - 15:28 Updated : Nov 22, 2021 - 18:10
The head of Korea’s disease control agency said Monday that the state of the COVID-19 outbreak here has gone from “low risk” to “high risk” over the last three weeks as the country began its phased return to normal.
Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong told a televised briefing that “intensive care beds at Seoul hospitals were nearly full to the brink,” with other metrics worsening all across the country.
In response to press inquiries, she said that Korea “may decide whether to bring back some of the lifted restrictions” next week, as the first of the three-phase return to normal comes to an end. But she said that for the time being, subjecting only Seoul -- the epicenter of the country’s outbreak -- to intensive social distancing once again was not being considered internally.
By Sunday at midnight, 907 COVID-19 patients around the country were unable to be admitted to a hospital for more than a day, and 137 of them had waited four days or longer, according to statistics provided by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. On the day prior, 804 patients were waiting for an available bed. At least six have died while waiting on a bed.
After setting a new high of 522 on Nov. 17, the number of patients with severe or critical COVID-19 has been hovering around 500, which is the initially estimated threshold for keeping hospitals running without being overburdened.
The seven-day average of daily deaths climbed to 26 from the previous week’s 19. The case fatality rate so far this month stood at 0.84 percent, which is more than double the rate seen in June of 0.35 percent, before the fourth wave hit and the delta variant took hold...
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