SHORTAGE OF HOSPITAL BEDS AMID VIRUS RESURGENCE

[Anchor Lead]

Although the number of new COVID-19 cases in Korea has been kept under 200 for the last few days, the number of patients in serious or critical condition continues to rise. There are 163 seriously ill patients, a record high since the outbreak, causing a serious shortage of hospital beds. Only 1% of all hospital beds in the Seoul metropolitan area are free for immediate admission.

[Pkg]

There are only four hospital beds available in the Seoul metropolitan area for critically ill COVID-19 patients. Three became unavailable overnight. What little ICU beds that remain are in Seoul. None in Incheon or other cities in Gyeonggi-do Province. A recent spike in the number of 60-and-older patients caused the latest surge in critical cases. The number has been rising steadily since August 18th. The number of critical cases surpassed 100 on September 1st for the first time since the outbreak, then went up to 163.

[Soundbite] KWON JUN-WOOK(DEPUTY DIR., KOREA CENTERS FOR DISEASE CONTROL & PREVENTION) : "More than 400 new cases were reported around Aug. 25 and 26. Subsequently, the number of patients in critical and serious condition is very likely to increase for the next 7 to 10 days, until Sunday, Sep. 6."

There are only 38 ICU beds available nationwide. None available in Daejeon and Gangwon-do Province. Only one bed is ready for use in each of the Jeonbuk, Jeonnam, Gwangju and Gyeongbuk areas. The government plans to have the cities in the same region share the beds. The option of inter-regional patient transport is also on the table.

[Soundbite] LEE CHANG-JUN(CENTRAL DISASTERS MANAGEMENT HEADQUARTERS(SEP. 3)) : "We're reviewing plans to use the beds in the nearest region of Yeongnam when it becomes difficult to secure ICU beds quickly in the Honam region."

In the past month, five patients were moved between regions. Four cases were transported from Chungnam to Honam. One from Gyeongsangbuk-do Province to Gyeongsangnam-do. Currently, the hospital bed utilization rate in the capital and surrounding cities stands at 61.8%. This figure includes the beds in general wards. The Seoul city government recently designated Seoul Bukbu Hospital as an infectious disease specialty hospital to secure 80 more beds. Also, five more community treatment centers opened to provide more than 1,000 beds.