<Anchor> As a



critically ill patient who initially said it was difficult to exceed 500, it eventually surpassed 1,000, but the biggest problem is that the rate of increase is too fast. When there is a shortage of beds and the number of patients increases, a medical vacuum is inevitable. Other critically ill people can also be harmed.



Reporter Park Soo-jin continues.



<Reporter> The



number of severe cases of Corona exceeded 600 for the first time on the 25th of last month.



After that, the number increased by about 100 people every 6-7 days, but it took only four days for the number to exceed 900 to 1,000.



On the other hand, the speed of securing beds is only slow.



Although there have been five administrative orders since last August, only about 62% of the target number of severe and semi-severe beds was secured.



This is because it takes time to move existing patients to other hospitals or to set up new facilities.



Currently, the utilization rate of hospital beds in the metropolitan area is saturated at 86%.



[Kang Ji-hye/Seoul Medical Center Corona Ward Nurse: There was one mother, and that mother cannot be intubated, and in order to go to a higher-level hospital, the bed assignment group arranges such a patient. As the



number of severe coronavirus patients increases, the likelihood that the general critically ill will worsen into an emergency situation increases.



With limited hospital beds and medical staff being put into corona patients, medical response capabilities are insufficient in case of a general critical illness.




In fact, some hospitals are sequentially closing intensive care units for general patients in order to increase the number of beds for corona patients.



[Seo Ji-young/Professor of Intensive Care Medicine at Samsung Seoul Hospital: The number of beds and manpower that can be treated is the same.

From the point of view of a non-corona (patient), the space and manpower that can be received there goes to the corona patient.] If



the situation worsens, the medical community may be forced to choose a patient with a high probability of survival among critically ill patients. warn that there is.



(Video editing: Park Ki-duk, CG: Seo Seung-hyun)