▲ Patients suspected of corona 19 waiting in sequence at Daegu Medical Center Screening Clinic
Daegu City has switched to Coronavirus Infectious Disease-19 (Corona 19) emergency system today (19th), but there is a shortage of epidemiologic investigators and negative pressure hospitals.
Kwon Young-jin, the Mayor of Daegu, said in a briefing for Corona19 today that "Corona19 has already spread deep into the local community and is limited to coping with Daegu City and local governments."
As the situation spread, including 10 additional corona19 confirmed patients, Daegu City conducted epidemiological investigations such as confirming the route of confirmation and contacting.
However, there is an absolute shortage of professionals to handle this.
A public service officer may conduct a closed circuit (CC) TV search to identify contacts of multi-use facilities visited by the sponsor, but the epidemiological investigation should be done by a professional epidemiologist.
The problem is that there are only two epidemiological researchers in Daegu who will actually be in charge of the investigation.
Gyeongbuk Province, which has three confirmed patients, has three professors, one Metropolitan Government Health Policy Department, one nursing job and one public health.
Provincial and provincial governors have requested the central government to ease the requirements for epidemiological investigators to respond to the situation.
The number of confirmed patients is increasing, but there is a lack of negative pressure beds to accommodate them.
According to the Corona 19 Central Accidents Headquarters, there are currently 54 beds in Daegu.
Gyeongbuk Province designated Dongguk University Gyeongju Hospital and Provincial Medical Center Pohang, Gimcheon, Andong Medical Center as quarantine hospitals.
Many patients who need to be isolated, such as critically ill or respiratory diseases, are already using a negative pressure room.
Daegu and local hospitals and clinics decided to relocate patients who used negative pressure rooms to other hospitals in addition to Corona19.
Young-jin Kwon said, “It is urgent to send a special task force at the central government level, epidemiological investigations necessary, support for medical personnel, and secure a negative pressure room to respond to Corona19.”
Noh Hong-in, general manager of the Central Accident and Welfare Headquarters, said, “There are 54 beds in Daegu and 34 beds in Gyeongbuk, and we will use the resources in the Gyeongbuk area when demand exceeds in Daegu.”
He said, "If there are not enough beds in the area, the government is moving to move to nearby local governments."
In a statement, the Daegu-Gyeongbuk Health and Welfare Organization Solidarity Conference pointed out that the infection control budget in Daegu was only 0.4% of the total budget, and the operating cost of negative pressure bed management was about 150 million won.
He also said that the government's budget for infectious diseases is not enough to reach about 200 billion won.
(Photo = Yonhap News)