<Anchor>



You will feel a little uncomfortable as the distance is strengthened again. However, if the situation gets worse, the number of confirmed cases could reach 20,000 next month,” Jung Eun-kyung, head of the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, warned that the current situation is so serious that it seems inevitable. Today (17th), the number of new confirmed cases is expected to reach around 7,000. With the number of critically ill patients approaching 1,000, even the medical staff who have been a support for them are no longer able to withstand it.



This is reporter Bae Jun-woo.



<Reporter> At



9 o'clock last night, 5,901 confirmed cases were added to the midterm count of Corona 19.



Considering the recent confirmation trend, the number of new confirmed cases to be announced this morning is expected to reach around 7,000.



In the case of Seoul, as of 9 pm last night, 2,504 additional confirmed cases were tentatively counted, which is a record high.



By region, there were 4,219 cases in the metropolitan area and 1,682 cases in non-metropolitan areas, all of which were confirmed in 17 cities and provinces.



As of yesterday, the number of patients with severe severe cases reached 989, approaching 1,000.



[Kang Ji-hye/Nurse in charge of corona patients: The severity of the patients was definitely higher than in the early days of the infectious disease (corona), and even though they were vaccinated, there were more symptoms or… .]



The shortage of manpower in the medical field is also a big problem.



In particular, the cumulative number of critically ill patients at Seoul Medical Center has exceeded 20,000, and about 180 patients are currently receiving inpatient treatment. I did.



[Kim Seok-yeon / Medical Deputy Director of Seoul Medical Center: I persuaded medical specialists, specialists, and even nurses from all occupations, and only for a temporary period of a month or two, 'Let's be patient together', 'This is the last', and barely persuaded...

.] On-



site medical staff are raising their voices that the number of medical personnel should be urgently increased and appropriate compensation should be provided at the same time.