Gyeonggi Province Opens COVID-19 Severe Patient ICU at Anseong Hospital…Preparing for Simultaneous Patient Surge

[Suwon Ilbo=Park No-hun, reporter] A COVID-19 severe patient intensive care unit began operations on the 14th at Gyeonggi Province Medical Center Anseong Hospital.
Lim Seung-gwan, co-head of Gyeonggi Province's COVID-19 Emergency Response Task Force, announced this at a regular briefing on the 15th, saying "COVID-19 is particularly dangerous for the elderly and patients with underlying medical conditions, so we must continuously expand critical care functions in preparation for simultaneous patient surges occurring in medical institutions and care facilities."
After approximately three months of preparation, Anseong Hospital secured a maximum of 15 beds capable of mechanical ventilation treatment and began initial operations with 7 beds.

The province invested approximately 500 million won in facility improvement construction and medical equipment purchases. In response to the province's cooperation request, the government first recruited and dispatched 10 experienced nurses and one internal medicine specialist in volunteer format, and tertiary medical institutions in the province also provided specialized personnel. Bundang Seoul National University Hospital regularly dispatches critical care attending physicians and education nurses, and Soonchunhyang University Bucheon Hospital dispatched four critical care nurses. Ajou University Hospital assisted in retraining experienced nurses.

Director Lim stated, "While we cannot guarantee what results this new attempt will achieve, it is our first step, gathering wisdom and courage to protect the lives of residents," and added, "It is a small but meaningful achievement that began through cooperation between public and private medical institutions and with support from the central and local governments."

As of 0 o'clock on the 15th, there were 5 new confirmed cases in the province, consisting of 1 related to multi-level marketing in Seoul's Gwanak-gu, 2 from community transmission, and 2 from overseas inflow.
For provincial confirmed cases related to Seoul's Gwanak-gu office, there has been an increase of 1 from 0 o'clock the previous day, totaling 3 cases. The additional confirmed case is the spouse of a previously confirmed member of the relevant office who had been in self-quarantine since the 13th and tested positive on the 12th after developing symptoms such as sore throat. Since this confirmed patient works at a new construction site in an industrial complex in Hwaseong, in-depth epidemiological investigations are being conducted on construction site workers and restaurant visitors who had contact.

There are a total of 2 newly confirmed cases of community transmission with unknown sources. Among these, the confirmed case residing in Uijeongbu developed symptoms of cough and sputum on July 2, showed pneumonia findings, and tested positive in a hospital screening test; monitoring is ongoing for 2 family members who had contact and 14 people who had contact at a factory where they worked for a short period on the 13th and an office they visited. The other confirmed case also resides in Uijeongbu and is the spouse of an existing confirmed case, confirmed as asymptomatic. The transmission route for these 2 cases is unknown, and in-depth epidemiological investigations are being conducted.

Meanwhile, as of 0 o'clock on the 15th, the confirmed case count in Gyeonggi Province increased by 5 from 0 o'clock the previous day to 1,383 cases. (National total: 13,551 cases) Among Gyeonggi Province confirmed cases, 1,150 have been discharged, and 206 are currently isolated in hospitals and community treatment centers. As of 0 o'clock on the 15th, Gyeonggi Province has secured 541 confirmed patient treatment beds across 14 hospitals, and currently in-use beds account for 36.8% at 199 beds.