Seoul and the surrounding Gyeonggi Province area are scrambling to secure hospital beds amid the spike of Covid-19 cases.

As of midnight Tuesday, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency said the nation had 686 new virus cases. The cumulative caseload went up to 39,432. Seoul reported 264 daily new cases, Gyeonggi, 214, and Incheon, 46.

With Seoul’s daily cases continuing to surpass 200, the Seoul city government said hospitals exclusively treating Covid-19 patients have used up 82.6 percent of beds. In the Seoul metropolitan area, the hospital bed operation rate stood at 76.2 percent.

Out of 62 beds for seriously ill Covid-19 patients in Seoul, only six are empty.

The eight community treatment centers in Seoul have only 157 beds available.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would introduce a “container-type treatment space” to place 150 more beds by Dec. 15 and increase the number of community treatment centers for Covid-19 patients with mild symptoms and distribute them to 25 districts. Also, Seoul will set up one more community treatment center under the city's direct operation to secure additional 340 beds.

The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would install containers at three municipal hospitals to secure 150 temporary beds by Dec. 15.
The Seoul Metropolitan Government said it would install containers at three municipal hospitals to secure 150 temporary beds by Dec. 15.

In Seoul, asymptomatic Covid-19 patients aged 49 and under will get treatment at the district’s treatment center. Those aged 50 and more with no or mild symptoms, at the city’s treatment center.

Seoul will install treatment containers in the headquarters and the branch of the Seoul Medical Center, and Seoul Seobuk Hospital. Seoul Medical Center’s headquarters will have 48 portable treatment containers by Thursday this week and the branch, 60, and Seobuk Hospital, 42, by next week.

“So far, we haven’t had any situation where we can’t assign a bed for a confirmed Covid-19 patient,” Park Yoo-mi, an infection control officer at the Seoul Metropolitan Government, said in a briefing Tuesday. “To relieve the shortage of beds, we plan to install containers in available outdoor space within the municipal hospitals to secure 150 portable beds.”

The containers, close to the hospitals, will be equipped with negative-pressure facilities to function as similarly as community treatment centers. “Some proposed to create a large temporary hospital in a gymnasium or an exhibition hall. In preparation for a surge of Covid-19 patients, we will try to secure as many beds as possible with all possibilities open,” she added.

Gyeonggi Province has resumed the “Home Care” system on Dec. 3, where confirmed Covid-19 patients stay at home and receive medical consultation through daily phone calls from healthcare professionals. As of midnight Tuesday, 282 Covid-19 patients in Gyeonggi Province were under home care.

In Gyeonggi Province, hospitals have used up 89.9 percent of beds for Covid-19 treatment. Out of 49 beds for seriously ill patients, only five are available. At four community treatment centers, 69.4 percent of beds have been occupied.

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