S. Korea mulls ending shift to normal life amid new COVID-19 cases exceeding 4,000

Posted on : 2021-11-25 17:34 KST Modified on : 2021-11-25 17:34 KST
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum called it an “urgent situation” in which Korea must consider implementing an emergency plan
Medical workers and patients fill a crowded intensive care unit in a dedicated COVID-19 hospital in Pyeongtaek on Tuesday. (Yonhap News)
Medical workers and patients fill a crowded intensive care unit in a dedicated COVID-19 hospital in Pyeongtaek on Tuesday. (Yonhap News)

South Korea’s new daily confirmed COVID-19 cases exceeded 4,000 on Tuesday, reaching an all-time high 24 days after the easing of disease control restrictions to allow for a gradual return to everyday life.

The government is now pumping the brakes on plans for shifting to stage two of the “living with COVID-19” scheme, which was scheduled to go into effect around the middle of next month, as it weighs whether to implement a partial emergency plan for the greater Seoul area.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced Wednesday that an all-time high of 4,115 new confirmed cases (4,087 domestic, 28 imported) had been counted as of the end of Tuesday.

The number of patients in severe or critical condition was 586, the highest since the pandemic began. The nationwide occupancy rate for dedicated COVID-19 critical care hospital beds surpassed 70% for the first time.

Amid warning signs in terms of confirmed cases, patients in severe and critical condition, and hospital bed occupancy rates, the South Korean government began discussing whether to implement an “emergency plan” that would suspend the transition to normalcy.

“We’ve entered our fourth week since beginning the gradual return to everyday life,” noted Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum in a meeting of the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters on Wednesday morning.

“This is a time when we’re supposed to be thinking about whether to progress to the next stage [of ‘living with COVID-19’], but the disease control situation is more serious than anticipated,” he said.

“Speaking solely in terms of the greater Seoul area [Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province], it’s an urgent situation where we need to consider implementing an emergency plan at some point,” he added.

That afternoon, members of the Committee on the Recovery of Normal Life from COVID-19 and its subcommittee on quarantine and healthcare held a meeting to assess the current risk based on the indicators and discuss additional disease control measures.

By Lee Jae-ho, Park Jun-yong and Kwon Ji-dam; staff reporters

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

Related stories

Most viewed articles