South Korea re-establishes COVID-19 borders amid hospital “cacophony” Coronavirus pandemic News

South Korea says it will re-impose restrictions on companies and tighten social distance rules based on the number of COVID-19 infections and serious cases. to arrive records.

The measures announced on Thursday have come a month and a half since the South Korean government eased restrictions under the “living with COVID-19” policy. But with new rising infections and health workers warning because of the “tables” in hospitals, the government has put more pressure on the policy to back down.

Under the new rules, which will come into force on Saturday, gatherings are limited to more than four people, as long as they are fully vaccinated.

Restaurants and bars will also have to close by 9pm and movie theaters and internet cafes by 10pm.

Only uninserted people can dine, or use delivery or delivery services.

“We are making every effort to overcome the serious crisis by expanding our medical capacity and vaccination campaign, but we need time,” Prime Minister Kim Boo-kyum said at a government meeting.

“We can move beyond this crisis by moving away from the current spread as quickly as possible through a strong social distance.”

He also called on those eligible to receive booster jabs to be obtained as soon as possible, warning them of the pressure being exerted on the country’s health system. More than 80 percent of South Korea’s population has been vaccinated.

Health workers are pushing for new restrictions, with doctors and nurses on Monday describing scenes of “battlefield” in Seoul hospitals.

“As the number of seriously ill patients increases, so does what is needed [of hospital staff] it has also increased. It has been two years since the burden of cleaning and cleaning the hospital rooms and bathrooms has been left to the nurses, leaving them no time to eat, ”said Ahn Su-kyeong, a nurse at Korea National Medical Center. “These nurses who work with patients on the deathbed and work with corpses are struggling with fatigue and depression without knowing when they will come out of their current situation.”

Encouraging stricter rules of social distance, a doctor also criticized the lack of government attention to increase hospital staffing.

“No matter how many beds are secured, without qualified medical staff, medical services cannot be provided at the moment,” said Kim Hyun-tae Wonju, head of the labor union at Christian Hospital of Severance Hospital.

“The government only focuses on the number of beds, but that is the wrong point of attention. When it comes to enforcing orders, there is no talk of manpower, but caring for and caring for the sick is something that human beings need to do. ”

There was no immediate comment from health workers on the measures announced on Thursday.

The Korean Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) reported 7,622 cases on Thursday, a new record of 7,850 days and a day later. He said the number of serious cases had reached 989, taking about 87 per cent of the beds in intensive care units in the Seoul metropolitan area and about 81 per cent being used nationwide.

The number of daily cases was over 7,000 for the first time last week, just over 5,000 in just a few days.

KDCA Director Jeong Eun-kyeong said the daily number could reach 10,000 this month if the rise does not slow down.

Infections totaled 544,117, including 148 cases of the potentially more contagious variant of Omicron, with 4,518 deaths, the KDCA said.