COVID-19 cases surge six-fold in four weeks in South Korea... 65% of hospitalized patients are over 65 years old

The number of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in South Korea has recently increased by nearly six-fold.
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) announced on the 10th that they had jointly shared the trends of the COVID-19 virus epidemic and reviewed response plans.
The number of patients has been declining since the first week of February (875 cases), but has been increasing again since the end of June. In particular, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients in the last four weeks was 148 in the second week of July, 226 in the third week, and 233 in the fourth week.
In the first week of August, the number of hospitalized patients was 5.8 times that of the first week of August, with 475 in the fourth week and 5.8 times that of the first week of August. By age, those aged 65 and over were the largest group, accounting for 65.2% (8,087) of the total number of hospitalized patients, 12,407.
Those aged 0-64 accounted for 18.1% (2,251 cases), followed by those aged 19-49 at 10.3% (1,283 cases). Taking into account the epidemic trends over the past two years, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC) has predicted that the number of COVID-19 patients will increase by the end of this month.
The COVID-19 virus detection rate in influenza and respiratory viral pathogen specimen surveillance has risen for four consecutive weeks, from 13.6% in the second week of July to 39.2% in the first week of August.
It has been determined that the recent COVID-19 epidemic is being driven by the KP.3 variant, an omicron-derived virus. The KP.3 variant accounted for 45.5% of cases as of July, down 33.4% from June.
The South Korean government believes that although the number of COVID-19 patients is increasing, 93.8% of cases are moderate (something between severe and mild), and that the current medical system is capable of handling the situation.
On weekdays in the first week of August, of the 19,521 emergency room patients per day, COVID-19 patients accounted for 5.1% (996 people), of which 6.2% (62 people) were in serious condition.
Most patients have moderate or mild symptoms. However, high-risk groups, such as those aged 65 or older and those with underlying conditions, may develop severe symptoms if infected with COVID-19, so a management system has been established to ensure that they receive treatment in a timely manner.
The South Korean government also plans to proactively respond to the rapidly increasing demand for COVID-19 treatment drugs and self-testing kits.
Last month, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provided 76,043 doses of COVID-19 treatment drugs to local health centers, hospitals and pharmacies.
The supply of treatment drugs has increased by about 103 times compared to the previous month of June (737 people), and about 42 times compared to May of this year (1,812 people).
The Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to purchase additional COVID-19 treatment drugs and quickly supply them within this month.
At the same time, COVID-19 vaccinations will begin in October of this year. Those at high risk, such as those aged 65 or older, those with weakened immune systems, and those hospitalized or staying in vulnerable facilities such as nursing homes, will be vaccinated free of charge.
The general public aged 12 and over who are not in a high-risk group will be responsible for the cost of getting vaccinated.