The government should expand medical personnel and hospital beds to prepare for the resurge of Covid-19 cases during the coming winter, a lawmaker said Friday.

"Despite the serious situation where the number of new Covid-19 cases and deaths continue to increase, the numbers of medical personnel and designated beds have decreased significantly," said Rep. Kim Young-joo of the Democratic Party of Korea during the National Assembly's administrative audit of the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

According to data Kim received from the ministry and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), Covid-19 cases quadrupled from 300,000 in March to 1.37 million in August, and deaths tripled from 288 to 621.

In contrast, the number of medical workers for Covid-19 dropped by 98.6 percent, from 7,988 in December last year to 112 last month. The number of doctors fell from 1,482 to 66, and those of nurses and nursing assistants plunged from 4,221 and 800 to 34 and one.

Designated Covid-19 beds have also plummeted. The number of beds, which stood at 3,880 at the end of February this year, fell by 82.8 percent to 668 by the end of August. As of Aug. 30, there were 273 beds for severe cases, 395 beds for moderate cases, and no beds for mild cases.

"The government claims that the mortality rate and risk of Covid-19 has decreased, but there are still more than 1 million confirmed cases and hundreds of deaths," Rep. Kim said. "The government should consider expanding medical personnel and facilities specializing in Covid-19 in preparation for a winter outbreak, not judging by the cases of major foreign countries."