Number of coronavirus cases surges in Korea amid doctors’ strike

A notice saying coronavirus diagnostic kits are stocked is posted at a pharmacy in Seoul on August 15. Reporter Moon Jae-won

As the number of coronavirus cases continued to increase and problems such as a shortage of treatments became more and more serious, the government responded by supplying additional treatments. The medical community has raised concerns that the government’s inability to proactively respond to the spread of the coronavirus could disrupt the treatment of critically ill coronavirus patients and emergency patients.

The government held a meeting of related ministries on August 14 to check the spread of the coronavirus. The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said the number of coronavirus inpatients has increased again since the end of June this year, peaking in the second week of August. The number of inpatients increased six-fold from 226 in the third week of July to 1,357 in four weeks. The number of coronavirus patients coming to emergency rooms increased about 5.2 times from 2,240 in June to 11,627 in July. The KDCA predicted, “Coronavirus has been prevalent even in the summer over the past two years, and considering the trend of the past two years, the increase in coronavirus patients is expected to continue until the end of August.”

The surge in confirmed cases has led to an ongoing shortage of treatment at hospitals and pharmacies. According to the KDCA, the weekly use of treatments increased from 1,272 doses in the 4th week of June (between June 23 and 29) to more than 42,000 doses in the 5th week of July (between July 28 and August 3), which soared more than 33 times. According to a report on the supply and demand for coronavirus treatments published by the KDCA on August 15, as of the first week of August, a total of 198,000 people applied for the treatments at pharmacies and medical institutions nationwide, but only 33,000 doses were supplied, meeting only 16.7 percent of the actual demand.

The government said it negotiated with overseas pharmaceutical companies to secure additional treatments. It set out a goal to start supplying additional supplies this week and to make sure that enough treatments are available at any pharmacy nationwide in the last week of August. It also explained that the production of coronavirus self-test kits was expanded from the end of July, and more than 5 million kits would be produced and supplied in August.

However, many in the medical field are worried about whether they can handle the immediate surge in coronavirus patients. “Since the consumption of treatments is fast, I am worried that they may not be enough next week even if we barely pass this week with urgent supplies,” said Lee Jae-gap, a professor of infectious diseases at Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital.

Due to the surge in coronavirus patients, the problem of intensive care treatment and emergency room patient acceptance is also becoming serious. “The number of hospitalized patients has exceeded last year’s level, as burdensome out-of-pocket expenses for diagnostic tests and a shortage of diagnostic kits have delayed the diagnosis of the coronavirus, often resulting in severe symptoms,” Lee said. “Due to the shortage of trainee doctors, large hospitals are unable to fully operate their intensive care units and emergency rooms and will be difficult to accommodate more patients, but the government’s measures are insufficient.”

Lee Hyung-min, chairman of the Korean Society of Emergency Medicine, said, “In particular, patients in nursing hospitals who suffer from high fever or respiratory symptoms may have more difficulty treating at large hospitals.” He added, “Elderly respiratory patients often require ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) treatment, which is usually available only in larger hospitals. The hospitals that have ECMO are already saturated, so at this rate, the damage that is not counted in statistics will increase significantly.”

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.