Prime Minister Han Deok-soo announced today (12th) that related procedures will be carried out as soon as possible to declare a special disaster zone for the affected area.
Prime Minister Han said in his remarks at both the centralized heavy rain response situation inspection meeting and the Corona 19 Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters meeting held at the government complex in Seoul today, "The government will do its best to stabilize the lives of residents in the affected area and support rapid recovery. "He said this.
He further urged the local governments in the affected area to quickly complete the damage investigation, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to expedite the process of declaring special disaster areas as early as possible for local governments that meet the criteria for declaration.
Today's meeting was held by combining the Corona 19 Severe Headquarters meeting, which Prime Minister Han presided over every Friday, and the Centralized Heavy Rain Response Status Inspection Meeting.
Regarding the spread of Corona 19, Prime Minister Han said, "The number of critically ill patients in hospital has exceeded 450, and the hospital bed utilization rate has risen to 50%."
Next, he said that he would strengthen inspections at one-stop medical institutions and 24-hour non-face-to-face medical centers that conduct COVID-19 tests, prescriptions, and treatment in one place.
Prime Minister Han checked the on-site operation status of 6,500 out of 9,900 one-stop treatment institutions for COVID-19 and said, "About 8% of institutions that do not provide one-stop inspection, prescription and face-to-face treatment should be supplemented, and the Internet We have taken measures to ensure that accurate information is provided on the portal site."
Prime Minister Han said, "In the future, when high-risk groups such as the elderly use a one-stop medical institution, they will be given priority to receive examination and treatment through a visit reservation."
He added, "The medical consultation center, which provides 24-hour non-face-to-face treatment for at-home treatment, will also regularly check the operation status and the designation will be lifted from insufficient institutions."
Prime Minister Han said, "Currently, the government has designated and is operating 7,80 COVID-19 treatment beds, which can handle up to 210,000 confirmed patients. he emphasized.
When the number of confirmed cases increased, the problem of supply and demand for cold medicines such as fever reducers was also mentioned.
Prime Minister Han explained, "We will ease the application of the 'drug price indexing system', which lowers the price of drugs that are concerned about supply-demand imbalances when usage increases, so that manufacturers can increase production without hesitation.
(Photo = Yonhap News)