<Anchor> The



government has come up with measures to secure more corona treatment beds in the metropolitan area. It was decided to move critically ill patients in the metropolitan area to another area where they could be transported within an hour, and to secure seven more dedicated hospitals to receive critically ill patients.



Next is reporter Kim Deok-hyun.



<Reporter> As of



yesterday (18th), the utilization rate of critically ill beds in the metropolitan area was 78%, and Seoul exceeded 80% for the third day.



The beds for semi-severe and moderate-severe patients, which are pre-critically ill, also filled more than 75%.



First of all, the government decided to transfer critically ill patients in the metropolitan area to non-metropolitan beds where there is room to spare.



In principle, the area can be moved within an hour as symptoms may worsen during transportation.



If necessary, an emergency helicopter can be used to transport to the Gyeongbuk area, which is 1-2 hours away.



[Lee Ki-il / Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters 1st Controller: In the case of moderately ill patients, we can transport them somewhat easily through an ambulance. If it is possible to safely transfer the critically ill patients, we plan to transfer the critically ill patients.] The



government will advance the time to expand the beds through two administrative orders and secure an additional 670 beds, including three base hospitals and four infectious disease hospitals.



Even when hospital beds are secured, the shortage of medical personnel is a problem.



[Oh Joo-hyung/Chairman of the Senior General Hospital Association: It is not easy to recruit more medical personnel because there are at least 2-3 times to 7-8 times more medical personnel, nursing personnel, and doctors than that of general patients. …

.] The



government plans to support 500 medical staff who can work in the intensive care unit to each hospital.



In order to reduce the demand for hospitalization, those over 70 who were excluded from home treatment can receive home treatment when they have completed the vaccination and have a guardian who can take care of them.



Nursing hospitals and facilities have decided to suspend contact visits even with those who have been vaccinated until additional vaccinations have been completed.



(Video coverage: Jeong Seong-hwa, video editing: Choi Eun-jin) 



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