The number of COVID-19 patients is rapidly increasing.

Due to the recent COVID-19 resurgence, the number of COVID-19 hospitalized patients in the first week of this month was 861, a 5.8-fold jump from the second week of last month (148). It is the first time in about six months that the weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations have exceeded 800 since February.

The re-emergence of COVID-19 seems to be due to insufficient ventilation due to indoor cooling in summer and not wearing a mask due to the heat. In particular, most of the patients hospitalized with COVID-19 are elderly people, and out of 12,407 hospitalized patients with COVID-19 this year, 8,087 people aged 65 or older accounted for 65.2% of the total.

The government plans to strengthen the supply and management of COVID-19 treatments and diagnostic kits, while administering vaccinations from October. The recent resurgence of COVID-19 infection has led to a temporary shortage of treatments and diagnostic kits in some regions, but the government has significantly increased the supply of COVID-19 treatments and supplied additional supply and demand management supplies that can be flexibly used in each region under the supervision of local governments.

In addition, the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention plans to purchase additional treatments and quickly introduce them within this month to protect high-risk groups until COVID-19 treatments can be supplied stably from the general medical system. In addition, domestic manufacturers are increasing their supply amid growing demand for COVID-19 tests, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is checking the supply and demand of test kits and closely monitoring the entire production and distribution process.
The government plans to start vaccination against COVID-19 in October from 2024 to 2025, and those aged 65 or older who are at high risk and those who are immunocompromised can be vaccinated free of charge. However, the general public aged 12 and over, who are not at high risk, has to pay for the COVID-19 vaccine, and details related to vaccination will be disclosed in September.