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| People wait in line for coronavirus tests at a testing center in Songpa District, Seoul, Friday. Yonhap |
Experts show mixed responses over moving to next phase
By Lee Hyo-jin
The government's "Living with COVID-19" plan, which began on Nov. 1, may face setbacks due to the worsening coronavirus situation, raising uncertainties over whether the country will be able to move on to the next phase of the plan.
The public health authorities plan to ease the social distancing measures gradually in three phases, with each transition slated for four to six weeks. After the current phase 1 ends in late November, the authorities will assess the virus situation and decide whether to proceed to phase 2 in December.
But the faster-than-expected rise in the number of critically ill patients has put public health authorities on high alert.
According to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the number of critically ill patients hit a fresh high of 485 as of Friday, breaking the record set the previous day. Saturday's figure also stood at 483.
The patients are currently occupying 59.6 percent of the intensive care unit (ICU) beds available for COVID-19 patients across the country. In Seoul, 76.2 percent of the ICU beds are occupied, while 75.9 percent and 71.9 percent are in Incheon and Gyeonggi Province, respectively.
The government said earlier that it would put into effect a "circuit breaker," or a contingency plan for halting the "Living with COVID-19" plan, if 75 percent of all ICU beds were filled across the country.
KDCA Commissioner Jeong Eun-kyeong said the current situation may prevent the government from shifting to the next step, under which more social distancing measures would be lifted.
"We may have to extend the current phase, or strengthen the quarantine measures," Jeong said during a National Assembly session, Thursday, in response to a lawmaker's question on whether the country would be able to proceed to the next phase at this pace.
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| A student at a high school in the southeastern city of Ulsan receives a COVID-19 test following confirmation of virus infections there, Friday. Yonhap |
She added, "We are monitoring the increase of critical patients cautiously. Given that only 10 days have passed into the new scheme, we will continue to monitor the situation and take the necessary measures."
Chon Eun-mi, a pulmonologist at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, viewed that it is unlikely that the government will move on to the next phase if it cannot bring the number of seriously ill patients under control.
"Under phase 2, curfews on night entertainment establishments will be lifted as well as mandatory face masks outdoors. It seems highly risky to ease those measures in the current situation," she told The Korea Times. "Rather than taking such steps, the government should focus on a rapid rollout of booster shots in response to the rising cases of breakthrough infections."
Kim Woo-joo, an infectious disease specialist at Korea University Guro Hospital, echoed the sentiment.
"It does not seem appropriate to go onto the next step at this point when the country is facing multiple risks: cold winter weather, the increasing threat of the Delta variant and waning vaccine effectiveness among fully vaccinated people."
Kim urged the government to introduce some of the social distancing measures, pointing out that the current lax measures may lead to an explosive growth in infections towards the year-end.
According to Oxford University's latest stringency index, which measures the toughness of each country's social distancing measures, Korea ranks third from last among G20 member nations.
Kim said, "Due to the drastic relaxation of the social distancing rules, everything seems to have almost completely returned to what it was like before the pandemic already. Though the Living with COVID-19 policies aim to focus more on critically ill patients, the authorities should not undermine the importance of curbing new infections."
On the other hand, Jung Jae-hoon, a professor of preventive medicine at Gachon Medical University, believes that it is too early to make any decisions. "It is still hard to predict how many new infections or critical patients we will see during the remaining period of the first phase. The government should make the decision after monitoring the situation over the next couple of weeks."
