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SEOUL: More than 40% of new coronavirus patients in South Korea are over 60 years old, driving an increase in the number of other seriously ill people, fitness officials said Wednesday.
South Korea is dealing with a wave of momentary infection, centered on Seoul, the capital and its surroundings, which is home to 25 million people.
Korea’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 267 new infections tuesday, a slight increase from the previous day. South Korea has a total of 20,449 infections and 326 deaths.
“The number of critically ill patients is increasing,” Health Deputy Minister Kim Gang-lip said in a briefing, adding that 124 patients were severely or seriously ill on Wednesday, up from nine on August 18.
“We have 40 percent of others over the age of 60,” he said, referring to new cases, adding that the government expected the number of others in need of extensive care to increase.
South Korea, the site this year of the first primary outbreak outside China, however, relatively young people of many other inflamed people may have helped reduce the death toll, experts said.
The outbreak of infections of more than 3 weeks has tired medical facilities, leaving less than 3% of hospital beds, or only nine, available for critical cases in the Seoul metropolitan area, compared to 22% about 10 days ago, the Ministry of Health said.
The government is struggling to raise beds, so as not to increase the number of serious cases, Kim said. Only social distance measures can limit spread, he climbed, urging others to cancel trips and stay at home as much as possible.
Some minor league baseball games were canceled this week after at least two players tested positive and an increasing number of players wore mask games.
Social distancing measures for the spread of the virus will hurt Asia’s fourth-largest economy, the government said, after unprecedented brakes went into effect in and around Seoul.
On Tuesday, the finance minister suggested that the government and the ruling party provide new distributions of money to some households, following similar bills in May for households.
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