COVID-19 CASES CONTINUES TO HOVER ABOVE 200

[Anchor Lead]

Korea recorded 235 more COVID-19 cases on Tuesday. The number of cases has hovered above 200 for three days now, and the total number of cases has surpassed 20,000 since the nation recorded its first case of the novel coronavirus. As the new outbreak continues to spread, the number of critically ill patients increased by 25 in just one day, surpassing 100 for the first time.

[Pkg]

More than 4400 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded over the past two weeks. Some 1400 of them - or about 33 percent - are people aged 60 and above. One out of every three new cases is from a high-risk group.

[Soundbite] KIM GANG-LIP(VICE MINISTER OF HEALTH AND WELFARE) : "Elderly patients and those with underlying conditions are at high risk of dying from COVID-19."

With more and more elderly people contracting the virus, the number of critically ill patients surpassed 100 for the first time. It has surged by more than eight-fold from just 12 on August 19, with more than 82 percent of the critically ill being 60 or older. As it usually takes between a week to 10 days for COVID-19 symptoms to become serious, the number of critically ill patients among the 400 plus new cases recorded recently is highly likely to increase by this weekend.

[Soundbite] KWON JUN-WOOK(KOREA CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL AND PREVENTION) : "Having a conversation or even breathing without a mask on makes you susceptible to COVID-19."

Securing hospital beds for patients with severe symptoms is urgent at this point. But there are only 43 beds nationwide that can accommodate them immediately. Only nine in the Seoul metropolitan area.

[Soundbite] YOON TAE-HO(CENTRAL DISASTERS MANAGEMENT HEADQUARTERS) : "The number of medical personnel who can operate hospital beds is as important as the number of beds. If we have more medical staff, we can operate more hospital beds."

To secure more hospital beds, the government is devising guidelines on compensating hospitals, and is calling on medical professionals to return to work to treat critically ill patients.