GOV'T FOCUSES ON SERIOUSLY ILL PATIENTS

[Anchor Lead]

Korea reported 1,022 critical covid-19 patients on Tuesday. Eighty percent of the nation’s hospital wards for covid patients are occupied. The occupancy rate jumps to 88 percent in the capital area, virtually reaching its limit. The government will focus on securing as many hospital beds and medical workers as possible for treating seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

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The ratio of coronavirus infections to the nation’s medical capacity has been hovering over 100 percent this month. This means the situation has gotten far beyond the level the country can handle within its medical capacity.

[Soundbite] Lee Sang-won(Central Disease Control HQs) : "The ratio has gone past 100%, forcing the nation to use hospital beds in emergency mode far beyond its appropriate capacity."

Health authorities are largely focusing on two key anti-virus measures. First, they are working to lower the demand for hospital beds by reducing new infections and critically ill patients as much as possible through administering booster shots. Infections among those aged 60 or older have dropped, as the percentage of the people in the age group receiving the third shot rose to nearly 55 percent last week. Second, the government will concentrate on increasing the supply of hospital beds for critically ill patients. President Moon Jae-in said the government is responsible for securing sufficient hospital beds for COVID-19 patients, adding it will expand medical capacities through special measures. In order to achieve this goal, the government will have national university hospitals nationwide focus on treating seriously ill COVID-19 patients. It will switch some public hospitals in the capital area into facilities that exclusively treat infectious diseases. The military will also be utilized.

[Soundbite] Jeon Hae-cheol(Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures HQs) : "We will dispatch military doctors specializing in treating COVID-19 related diseases to large general hospitals in the capital area that operate wards for seriously ill COVID-19 patients."

The government will encourage more hospitals to introduce modular beds, which are used as temporary sick beds at the National Medical Center. In order to cope with the increasing demand for coronavirus tests, it will set up 34 more temporary testing sites and expand some existing ones. The government says it will provide sufficient financial support to hospitals treating COVID-19 patients. It is also considering compensating the hospitals for possible losses they may suffer in the process.