As the number of Covid-19 patients increases, the government said there are no problems with the medical system, treatment, and self-test kits at a joint meeting of related ministries.

The Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) said Thursday that it held a joint meeting with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to review the recent trend of the Covid-19 epidemic and countermeasures.

The KDCA has monitored the status of hospitalized patients at 220 hospital-level specimen surveillance centers nationwide since the lowering of Covid-19 to the fourth-level infectious disease subject to specimen surveillance.

The number of hospitalized Covid-19 patients had declined since 875 in the first week of February before rising back in late June. In the first week of August, 861 cases were reported, similar to February, according to the agency.

By age, those aged 65 and older accounted for the largest number of hospitalizations with 8,087 or 65.2 percent of the total 12,407. Following the older adults were those aged 50-64, with 2,251, or 18.1 percent, and those aged 19-48, with 1,283, or 10.3 percent.

The Health and Welfare Ministry said that although the number of Covid-19 cases is increasing, the existing medical response system can cope with it because 93.8 percent of Covid-19 patients visiting emergency rooms are those with moderate symptoms or milder.

In addition, 706 hospitals that operated general beds during the coronavirus pandemic are treating patients, and, if necessary, the ministry plans to make the most of hospitals with specialized infectious disease beds, including 270 national quarantine beds and 436 urgent care beds.

Regarding Covid-19 treatments, the agency acknowledged that the recent rapid increase in the use of treatments has led to supply bottlenecks in some regions. In response, the KDCA changed the supply cycle from weekly to twice-weekly from the first week of August.

The Health and Welfare Ministry also plans to decide to grant insurance coverage for Covid-19 treatments that won approval from the MFDS and applied for registration through the discussion of reimbursement appropriateness, negotiations with the National Health Insurance Service, and deliberations at the Health Insurance Policy Review Committee.

The ministry plans to manufacture and distribute over 5 million Covid-19 self-test kits in August, considering manufacturers’ production facilities, technologies, and capacities.

Besides, the KDCA plans to begin Covid-19 vaccinations for the 2024-2025 season in October, using a new vaccine effective against the currently circulating strain worldwide. The agency is recommending the simultaneous vaccination of Covid-19 and influenza.

"Jointly with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and other relevant ministries, KDCA will take swift action in response to the increase in hospitalized Covid-19 patients and continue implementing the countermeasures discussed at the meeting," KDCA Commissioner Jee Young-mee said.