I barely made it to the hospital..."Care is closed." The hospital is on a battlefield in the worst flu. [Now News]

The recent surge in influenza cases has saturated otolaryngology and pediatric hospitals across the country with a flood of patients.

An otolaryngology hospital was also crowded with a long line of patients to register and people coming out of the hospital after treatment, and about 10 patients came and were listed on the reception waiting list from around 8:30 a.m. before the treatment began.

After about an hour, about 30 people were waiting for their turn, and the waiting time increased to two hours.

Around the same time, other pediatric hospitals were also full of children and caregivers coughing while wearing masks.

"Most of the patients who visit these days complain of flu symptoms," a hospital official said. "The number of such patients has increased beyond comparison to before."

Shim Kyung-won, a family medicine professor at Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital, said, "The virus seems to spread faster and the severity of the disease increases due to various factors such as temperature differences caused by rapid climate change."

There are also concerns that the Lunar New Year holiday at the end of this month will be a crisis for the flu epidemic.

In this regard, Park Min-soo, the second vice minister of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, said the day before, "We will work closely with local governments and medical institutions and prepare thoroughly for the emergency response period during the Lunar New Year holiday."


AI Anchor | Y-GO
Edit Caption | Lee Mi-young


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