Lee Jae-myung: "Third COVID-19 Wave Underway...Social Distancing Should Be Escalated to Level 3 Ahead of Schedule"

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Park No-hun] Gyeonggi Province Governor Lee Jae-myung stated that the third wave of COVID-19 he had warned about is now in full swing and urged the government to escalate social distancing to Level 3 to prevent widespread transmission.

Governor Lee also announced that Gyeonggi Province is preparing emergency mobilization orders for hospital beds and life treatment facilities to secure insufficient treatment beds and quarantine facilities.

Governor Lee Jae-myung made these remarks at an emergency COVID-19 quarantine response meeting held at 2 p.m. on December 12, presided over by Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun.

Governor Lee said, "Given the continued spread of COVID-19 despite the government's escalation to Level 2.5 social distancing, stronger social distancing measures are unavoidable," and proposed early implementation of Level 3 escalation.

Governor Lee emphasized in particular, "Apart from essential situations such as ceremonies and funerals, indoor gatherings are becoming more problematic than outdoor assemblies. For this, we need to strengthen the Level 3 standard from banning gatherings of 10 or more people to banning gatherings of 5 or more people." He continued, "Restaurants should not be allowed to accommodate people for more than two hours, and convenience stores should be prohibited from allowing on-premises dining regardless of size, and other strengthened social distancing measures should be actively reviewed. If necessary, Gyeonggi Province is preparing for preemptive implementation on its own."

Governor Lee said the province is also reviewing administrative orders to secure hospital beds.

Governor Lee stated, "With the surge in confirmed cases, we are doing our best to secure treatment beds and life treatment centers, but it is difficult. Securing a few private hospital beds here and there cannot resolve the current situation," and added, "We are reviewing measures to secure hospital beds through emergency mobilization orders at the provincial level."

He continued, "It is also necessary to support staffing, facilities, and equipment at closed, closing, or planned-opening hospitals or to maximize the use of public and private advanced hospitals with sufficient compensation for losses. We request that the government also establish standards or policies for securing a certain scale of hospital beds in local governments of a certain size."

As of 0 a.m. on December 12, Gyeonggi Province has secured 712 hospital beds, of which 643 beds are in use, leaving only 69 available beds.

Gyeonggi Province is prioritizing the mobilization of hospital beds at public hospitals while pursuing consultations with private hospitals and, should the COVID-19 spread situation become unfavorable,

is reviewing plans to implement emergency mobilization orders for hospital beds in accordance with Articles 37, 49, and 60-3 of the Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act.

For life treatment centers, in addition to facilities operated by Gyeonggi Province, municipal governments are being encouraged to independently secure life treatment centers, and plans are to utilize motels, resorts, closed nursing hospitals, and unopened medical facilities when searching for facilities.
Governor Lee also reiterated the proposal made on December 9 that COVID-19 screening should be expanded widely as a preventive measure.

Meanwhile, Governor Lee said, "Gyeonggi Province has weak public and private hospital infrastructure compared to its population and has many high-risk facilities such as nursing hospitals, but has abundant infrastructure that can be used as life treatment centers," and emphasized the need for greater cooperation at the capital region level, saying, "Since Seoul has many hospitals but limited life treatment center infrastructure, we hope for stronger efforts in capital region joint response."