hankyoreh

Relatively few people wait to be tested for COVID-19 at a temporary screening station in Seoul Plaza on April 12, the second day that screening stations stopped administering rapid antigen tests. (Yonhap News)

With the total number of deaths caused by COVID-19 in Korea approaching 20,000, it's been found that 94% of deaths so far have occurred in those over the age of 60. Experts are highlighting the need for more widespread use of oral medication to prevent cases from becoming severe.

The Central Disease Control Headquarters announced that the COVID-19 cumulative death toll was 19,850 as of midnight on Monday. An average of 312 died from the virus per day that week (April 6-12), and it is expected that the number will soon exceed 20,000.

This year, large-scale spread of the virus continued, and the death toll rose sharply.

While a total of 5,563 people died from COVID infection as of the end of 2021 in the country, it took roughly three and a half months into 2022 to more than double that number, with around 14,287 people having died from COVID-19 by mid-March. Although the case fatality rate dropped from 0.8% at the end of last year to 0.13%, the number of deaths rose sharply as a result of large-scale infections this year.

It appears that the vast majority of the deaths occurred among older people, who are classified as a high-risk group. Those over the age of 60 accounted for 93.86% of all deaths thus far. In particular, people over 80 accounted for 58.51% of all deaths, with a fatality rate of 2.66% for this age group — a rate 20 times higher than 0.13% for the total population.

Last week also saw a continuation of this trend. Of the 2,163 deaths during this period, those aged 60 or older accounted for 94.4% of the total figure. The proportion of unvaccinated people among the total population over 60 years old is 4%, but the proportion of unvaccinated people among the deceased in this same age group was found to be 37.9%.

Korea’s disease control authority noted that preexisting conditions such as vascular diseases like high blood pressure, cerebral infarction and heart failure, nervous system diseases like dementia, and endocrine diseases like diabetes and thyroid diseases.

Among the new confirmed cases in Korea, those aged 60 and over accounted for 20% of the total from April 3-9. As a result, the government says it is determined to concentrate its capabilities on countermeasures aimed at protecting high-risk groups.

“We are continuing to implement strong measures such as periodic preemptive inspections and visits to vulnerable facilities such as nursing hospitals and nursing facilities, as well as taking measures to block the inflow [of infection] from the outside and send a medical team in case of a group infection,” said Son Young-rae, director of the Central Disaster Management Headquarters’ social strategy unit.

“We will consider adjusting social distancing measures while continuing to implement measures to protect the elderly and the vulnerable,” Son added.

Experts are also stressing the need to prescribe a fast, broad spectrum of treatment for high-risk groups. Paxlovid, an oral treatment for COVID-19, was administered to a cumulative total of 179,967 people between its introduction on Jan. 14 and April 7. This is despite there having been a slow period in prescribing the treatment at first, with only 1,275 patients receiving Paxlovid prescriptions for the first three weeks of the initial rollout.

As of April 7, Lagevrio (molnupiravir) had been prescribed to 7,148 people in the country.

Lee Kwan, a professor of preventive medicine at Dongguk University Medical School told the Hankyoreh, “Among those who died [of COVID-19], some were not able to get a prescription for Paxlovid. If there are symptoms, we need to focus on the diagnosis and treatment system so that we can quickly decide whether to prescribe Paxlovid or not.”

Similarly, Lee Hyeok-min, a professor at Yonsei University Severance Hospital, said, “Paxlovid is meant to prevent [patients] from ending up in a critical condition rather than treating a patient already in critical condition. The sooner the treatments that have already been secured are used, the better.”

By Park June-yong, staff reporter

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