<Anchor> The



government has decided to administer the Corona treatment to more patients starting today (21st).

The government has decided to expand the range of age groups and patients with underlying diseases, while directing the response to Omicron mutations to reduce severe cases and deaths as much as possible rather than prevent infection.



Reporter Park Soo-jin will tell you the details.



<Reporter>



Last week, there were an average of 9,200 confirmed cases per day over the age of 60, an increase of more than 70% from a week ago.



The main reason is that cluster infections are increasing in nursing hospitals and facilities with many elderly people with underlying diseases.



If the number of confirmed cases in the elderly increases, the total number of severe cases and deaths is highly likely to increase accordingly.



In fact, the number of seriously ill patients hospitalized increased by 25% in just one week, and the number of deaths soared by more than 65% from 187 to 309 in just one week.



The utilization rate of intensive care beds, which was in the 10% range at the beginning of this month, has exceeded 30%.



[Kim Woo-joo / Professor, Department of Infectious Diseases, Korea University Guro Hospital: The first signal of a shortage of critically ill beds is a mass outbreak in nursing homes and nursing homes, and serious patients are formed, and among them, the death toll is increasing.

Doesn't that happen in a couple of weeks now?

That's the first signal.]



The government's focus on quarantine is also focused on minimizing the number of seriously ill patients.



To this end, starting today, patients with underlying diseases in their 40s will be added to the oral treatment drug Paxrovid, and the range of patients with underlying diseases from diabetes and cancer, cardiovascular disease, and chronic kidney disease will also be expanded.



The government is also hoping for the Novavax vaccine to reduce the number of unvaccinated people who are at high risk of getting infected.



This is because it is manufactured in a traditional way, so that concerns about side effects of vaccination can be reduced.



About 27,000 people who were not vaccinated completed the first dose with Novavax vaccine within a week of starting the vaccination, and the second and third doses are also increasing.



From today, you can make a reservation for the desired date from two weeks after the reservation date, and if you use the remaining vaccine or the hospital reserve list, it is possible to inoculate on the same day.