South Korea running out of sickbeds in COVID-19 resurgence

SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea reported more than 300 infections of the new coronavirus on Saturday, the 16th day of three-digit rises, fanning concerns about a worsening shortage of sickbeds amid a resurgence of COVID-19.

The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) posted 308 new cases as of midnight Friday, bringing the total infections to 19,400, including 321 deaths from COVID-19.

After having largely curbed the first large outbreak outside China early this year, South Korea is suffering a setback this month after a church cluster spread to a political rally in Seoul, attended by tens of thousands from across the country.

With the surge in the disease, hospitals in greater Seoul had only 4.5% of their beds available for critical cases as of Friday, down from 22% a week earlier. Some 24% of beds for all COVID-19 patients were left, compared with 37% last week.

“Only about 15 beds are immediately available in the greater Seoul area for patients in critical condition as there were numerous patients who were in a serious condition and needed to be hospitalised,” said Yoon Tae-ho, director general for public health policy at the health ministry.