코로나19 신규 확진 나흘째 20만 명대...사망 373명·위중증 1,093명
South Korea continues to see an overall decline in the number of COVID-19 cases, so the government is considering a downgrade of the official risk level... from where it is now in the same group as Ebola.
And to better allocate resources, officials are also looking at gradually downsizing treatment centers and using fewer hospital beds for those whose symptoms are mild.
Shin Ye-eun has this report.
South Korea on Friday reported 205-thousand 3-hundred 33 new COVID-19 infections.
This was a drop of some 20-thousand from the day before.
Figures have also fallen by roughly 75-thousand from a week ago.
Authorities believe daily figures will drop to the low 100-thousands in two to three weeks' time.
On that note...authorities are looking to... re-classify... COVID-19... to a lower risk level.
Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum... said officials are gathering as much data and analysis as possible... to this end.
Currently, COVID-19 is categorized as a Level 1 Infectious disease,... the highest on the government's four-tier ladder... and regarded as the most dangerous.
A downgrade to Level 2,... would put COVID-19 in the same group... as tuberculosis, chickenpox and measles.
Such a move could be followed up... by the lifting of nearly all remaining social distancing rules.
In the interim however,... the Prime Minister said partial adjustments to our current measures... will be needed.
This may include... scaling back the number of hospital beds and treatment centers... for COVID-19 patients with light symptoms.
But at the same time... the Prime Minister said these measures need to be done gradually... to make sure that the number of deaths and critically ill patients remain low.
In order to do this...he asked for active participation on the vaccination front.
He specifically asked those at nursing homes and other high-risk facilities to get their fourth vaccine shots.
"Though we're seeing more high-risk people get their fourth shot... the participation rate in some districts only stands at 50 percent. We ask local governments for more participation so that we can give boosters to as many seniors as possible."
Starting next week... COVID-19 test centers will no longer provide rapid antigen tests.
These centers will only be doing PCR tests on high-risk people.
Everyone else will have to test themselves or visit a hospital or clinic to get it done by medical staff.
This will allow medical staff at test centers to be relocated to other places where they are needed.
Shin Ye-eun, Arirang News.
#COVID19 #treatment #infection
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2022-04-08, 17:00 (KST)
