HEALTHCARE WORKERS CONTINUES FIGHT WITH VIRUS

[Anchor Lead]

While the number of new COVID-19 cases has been on decline in recent days, healthcare workers in Korea continue their fight against the virus. Fatigue and the hot weather could undermine their efforts, in what is likely to become a protracted battle.

[Pkg]

​Seomun Market in Daegu is bustling with customers again, as if it never closed down during the height of the pandemic. But at a hospital just across the street a quiet but fierce battle continues to take place. Medical workers donning protective suits take care of COVID-19 patients in separate wards where access is strictly limited.

[Soundbite] "Mam, hold onto the cable."

The number of coronavirus patients at this hospital surpassed 400 at one point. But now it's down to about a hundred.

[Soundbite] HWANG JIN-YOUNG(NURSE, DAEGU DONGSAN HOSPITAL) : "We have much fewer patients now. It's easier. But the weather is getting hot. We sweat profusely even when we're standing still."

The health workers skillfully pull the strings on their protective suits, a skill they have acquired during this long battle against the virus.

[Soundbite] LEE HYE-JIN(NURSE, DAEGU DONGSAN HOSPITAL) : "After changing my clothes and leaving the hospital, I can see Seomun Market right across the street. But it feels like a totally different world to me."

However, fatigue and the rising daytime temperatures are undermining their efforts to end the pandemic. Most of the screening stations are set up outdoors to ensure ventilation. But this makes them particularly vulnerable to the hot weather.

[Soundbite] RYU JI-HYE(NURSE, DAEGU DONGSAN HOSPITAL) : "It's getting harder because of the rising temperatures. I sweat a lot."

The number of COVID-19 patients in the nation still undergoing treatment peaked on March 12, recording 7,470. On May 14 it fell to below a thousand for the first time. But the sporadic community spread continues, and no one knows when the virus will be eradicated completely.

[Soundbite] PARK HA-YEON(PROF., DAEGU DONGSAN HOSPITAL) : "It's frustrating as there is no medicine to treat this disease and I can't give my patients a clear answer."

With the vaccine and cure development likely to take a while, medical workers are gearing up for what is likely to become a protracted battle.