The Ministry of Health said in the capital, Seoul and other metropolitan areas medical resources were running low. 86 percent of the intensive care beds intended for corona patients are occupied. More than 1,480 were waiting for a hospital bed or inpatient treatment. Last week at least 17 patients died at home or in facilities where they were waiting for a hospital bed.
There are more of the 51 million inhabitants in South Korea 81 percent fully vaccinated against Corona. A refresh of the vaccination protection, however, only served 13 percent. Last week, the government shortened the required interval between the second peak vaccination and the booster to three months. At the same time, she hesitates to impose new contact restrictions. She relaxed many of these at the beginning of November in the hope that, given a good vaccination rate, there would be fewer hospital admissions for Corona. Since then, the number of new infections every day has more than tripled, at times it was more than 7,000.