◀ anchor ▶
Within a month of starting the gradual recovery of daily life, the national risk level has risen to the highest level of ‘very high’.
The government has taken the current situation seriously and has decided to apply special measures for the next month.
In order to expand the target of booster vaccination to all adults 18 years of age and older and to focus medical capacity on patients with severe symptoms, it was decided that confirmed patients should be treated at home as a rule.
First, reporter Kim Seong-hyun reports.
◀ Report ▶
The national risk of COVID-19 is ‘very high’.
It climbed one step higher than ‘high’ a week ago, recording the highest level out of five.
[정은경/질병관리청장]
“Considering the situation that the risk level has worsened every week for 4 weeks, the medical response capacity such as the intensive care unit is approaching the limit, and all leading indicators are rising…”
Last week, the average number of critically ill patients was 576, an increase of 78 from the previous week, and the occupancy rate of patients with severe cases also surged by 70.6% and 8 percentage points.
In particular, in the case of the metropolitan area, it was analyzed that it was almost saturated with 83.4%.
The government predicted that if the current hurdle is not overcome, the recovery of daily life may fail.
[문재인 대통령]
“We are facing another hurdle that is different from what we have been up to. We need greater awareness and a united response than ever before.”
Accordingly, we postponed the transition to the second stage of normal recovery, scheduled for the second week of next month, and announced special quarantine measures to be implemented for the next four weeks.
First, the target of booster vaccination will be expanded to adults aged 18 to 49 years.
A booster dose should be given 5 months after the completion of the vaccination.
Advance reservations will be made from December 2nd, and vaccination will be started two days later, from December 4th.
[정은경/질병관리청장]
“In order to prevent infection and to prevent gastritis, booster immunizations (ages 18 to 49) are absolutely necessary. In order to receive booster immunizations 5 months after the completion of primary immunization…”
At the same time, we decided to reorganize the medical response system based on home treatment.
In the future, home treatment, which was previously only provided to asymptomatic and mild confirmed cases under the age of 70, will be expanded to all confirmed cases in the future.
In this case, the capacity to respond effectively to medical care can be used efficiently by breathing in a saturated bed utilization rate.
However, if it is absolutely necessary to be hospitalized, transfer to a hospital bed will be allowed, and if symptoms worsen during home treatment, a short-term/outpatient treatment center will be installed so that treatment can be provided immediately.
For at-home care, it was decided to strengthen the care treatment system of the competent medical institution and consider subsidizing living support if there is an expense in the at-home treatment process.
This is Kim Seong-hyun from MBC News.
Video coverage: Jung Yong-sik / Video editing: Yoo Da-hye
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